WASHINGTON (TNND) — A man pardoned for his involvement in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots was arrested on felony charges after he destroyed an anti-ICE sculpture put on display outside of the Minnesota state capitol.
Jake Lang, an influencer running for U.S. Senate in Florida, posted a video on X showing himself knocking over the sculpture which spelled “PROSECUTE ICE.” He knocked over letters so the sculpture read “PRO ICE.”
He was arrested shortly after the incident for suspicion of criminal damage on property.
The sculpture was erected that same day by veteran advocacy organization Common Defense, which held a rally protesting the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations in the state.
“As a United States Marine, I swore an oath to the Constitution, not a political party; not an agency, the Constitution,” veteran Peter McKenzie said on Thursday.
“Peaceful protest is not extremism. It is a moral obligation when power stops policing itself. It is how we rouse the conscience of the nation before injustice becomes normalized.”
During its rally the group called on Congress to withhold federal funding to the Department of Homeland Security until reforms are made. They also called on Congress to enact legislation which would allow citizens to sue federal rights if their civil rights are violated by federal agents.
Following the sculpture’s destruction, Common Defense communications director Jacob Thomas lambasted Lang while reiterating calls for the federal agents who killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti to be charged.
“I gave eight years of my life in service to this country in the military. For a Jan. 6 insurrectionist to destroy our display is an attack on the First Amendment veterans like me fought to defend,” Thomas told MPR News.
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Lang organized an anti-Islam rally in Minneapolis last month.