A Jan. 6 rioter pardoned by President Trump is seeing red over Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdanis plan to tax “richer and whiter” NYC neighborhoods — and is suing to put the brakes on the radical leftist’s scheme.
Edward Lang was sick to his stomach when he first learned Mamdani’s campaign platform sought to “shift the tax burden from overtaxed homeowners in the outer boroughs to more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighborhoods.”
“I remember going through my X-feed and seeing the New York Post, you know, headline there, The Price is White, and being struck to my core with disgust,” said Lang, 30, who filed a lawsuit Nov. 3 in Manhattan federal court.
Edward Jake Lang alleges Mamdani’s tax plan, which intends to tax “richer and whiter” neighborhoods, violates the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. James Keivom
“It seemed like, to me, somebody had to stand up and do something, and so that’s why I took the initiative,” he said. “The 14th Amendment guarantees all American citizens equal protection under the law, and so it seems to me that white people have become second class in society now — we are sitting on the back of the bus.”
Lang wants to depose Mamdani in the case.
Lang is acting as his own lawyer in the lawsuit, which calls out Mamdani’s “explicit racial reference,” claiming it “creates the appearance that race or neighborhood demographics could serve as a motivating factor in determining tax burdens.”
He was arrested 10 days after the 2021 Capitol riot, and charged with assaulting law enforcement. Lang served nearly four years behind bars on federal charges without a trial as he fought the charges. He said he spent at least 900 days in solitary confinement in Washington DC’s Central Detention Facility before his January pardon.
The former resident of upstate Narrowsburg, NY, raised more than $1 million for legal and other Jan. 6-related causes while in the clink.
Now living in West Palm Beach, Lang is running for US Senate in Florida and said his business interests upstate give him standing to sue the mayor-elect.
Mamdani’s tax platform calls for shifting the city’s tax burden to “richer and whiter” neighborhoods. Dennis A. Clark
“I would love to depose Mr. Mamdani. I would like to . . . get an elaboration of what this tax plan would actually look like.”
“It’s about transparency.”
Mamdani did not return a request seeking comment.