Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter Jake Lang arrested in Minneapolis after vehicles drove onto sidewalk toward crowd, police say
Key Takeaways
- •Jake Lang, a January 6 defendant pardoned by President Trump in January 2025, was arrested in Minneapolis on probable cause riot after vehicles carrying him drove toward a crowd near City Hall.
- •Minneapolis police said both vehicles mounted the sidewalk in front of City Hall, prompting officers to intervene, arrest all occupants, and impound the vehicles.
- •Lang spent four years awaiting trial on 11 federal charges stemming from the Capitol attack, including allegations of assaulting officers with a baseball bat, but was never convicted.
- •Because presidential pardons cover only federal offenses, any Minnesota state charges arising from the incident would not be shielded by Lang's clemency.
- •Since his release, Lang has staged provocations in Dearborn, Plano, and Minneapolis that have drawn counter-protests, injuries, and viral footage.
MAGA influencer Jake Lang, a defendant in the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol attack who was later pardoned, was arrested Saturday in Minnesota after a vehicle he was occupying drove “toward a crowd of people” near Minneapolis City Hall, according to the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD).
In a statement, the department said:
“At approx. 11:50 a.m., far-right extremist Jake Lang arrived near Minneapolis City Hall with other people in two vehicles. Both vehicles drove onto the sidewalk in front of City Hall toward a crowd of people gathered there,” the statement reads.
“MPD intervened and LE partners later arrested all occupants, including Lang, on probable cause riot. Both vehicles were impounded. Additional arrests by MPD occurred near City Hall.”
Lang, a native New Yorker who now lives in West Palm Beach, Florida, had been charged with 11 offenses stemming from January 6, including allegations of assaulting officers with a baseball bat. He spent four years awaiting trial and was never convicted on any of the charges against him. He was released after President Donald Trump pardoned approximately 1,500 people connected to the insurrection in January 2025 — a sweeping grant of clemency that made good on a campaign pledge and unwound much of what the Justice Department had described as one of the largest criminal investigations in its history.
Unlike his January 6 case, which was prosecuted in federal court, Saturday’s arrest unfolded under Minnesota law. Because presidential pardons apply only to federal offenses, any state charges arising from the Minneapolis incident would fall outside the scope of the clemency Lang received in January 2025. Arrests on probable cause are an initial step; formal charging decisions in Minneapolis felony cases are made by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, which prosecutes felonies in the county that includes the city.
Since his release, Lang has rebranded as a far-right influencer and has built a reputation for staging provocations that draw counter-protests. Demonstrations he has staged in Dearborn, Michigan; Plano, Texas; and Minneapolis since November 2025 have led to counter-protests, injuries, and viral footage.
The City of Minneapolis posted the police statement on X:
