Far-right activist chased away by counterdemonstrators while leading small rally in Minneapolis

By Chris Boyette, CNN

(CNN) — Right-wing influencer Jake Lang was chased away by counterdemonstrators while leading a small rally in Minneapolis amid tensions over the Trump administration’s sweeping Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the Twin Cities.

Lang is among the January 6 defendants granted clemency by President Donald Trump. He was charged with assaulting an officer with a baseball bat, civil disorder and other crimes.

Before his anti-Somali, anti-Islam demonstration Saturday, called the “March Against Minnesota Fraud,” Lang said on social media he intended to “burn a Quran” on the steps of City Hall. CNN affiliate KARE reported he did not burn a Quran.

Lang appeared to have bruises and scrapes on his head as he left the scene of the altercation Saturday, according to The Associated Press. An image reposted by Lang appears to show a cut at the back of his head, and in another post, Lang said he had been stabbed.

“I was just literally lynched by an anti white mob of liberals & illegal immigrants,” Lang posted on social media.

CNN has asked Minneapolis police for information about any assaults during the protests and has not independently verified Lang’s claims.

CNN has reached out to Lang for comment.

Lang’s group was outnumbered by a much larger group of counterdemonstrators, KARE reported. The Minneapolis Police Department told CNN Saturday evening officers gave a dispersal order but made no arrests, and the crowd “eventually dispersed without incident.”

The city has seen rising tensions after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, in her SUV earlier this month. Good’s death sparked protests against ICE and the use of aggressive tactics by armed, masked agents across the country.

The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers in Alaska to prepare for deployment to Minnesota, according to a Trump administration source, as state officials have also mobilized the National Guard.

Lang is running for US Senate in Florida.

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CNN’s Hanna Park, Jake Tapper, Haley Britzky, Natasha Bertrand and Lauren Mascarenhas contributed to this report.