Hundreds of counterprotesters successfully overwhelmed a small far-right rally in Minneapolis on Saturday, January 17, 2026. The demonstration, organized by conservative influencer and pardoned January 6 defendant Jake Lang, was intended to show support for the Trump administration's recent immigration enforcement crackdown in the Twin Cities.
Confrontation at City Hall
Lang, who recently announced a run for U.S. Senate in Florida, had promoted an anti-Islam, anti-Somali, and pro-ICE event on social media, stating an intent to burn a Quran on the steps of City Hall. However, only a small number of supporters appeared, while several hundred counterprotesters converged on the site.
The counter-demonstrators, which included anti-ICE activists, yelled over Lang's attempts to speak and chased the pro-ICE group away. They forced at least one person to remove a shirt they found objectionable. Snowballs and water balloons were thrown before police in an armored van and heavily equipped city officers arrived.
"We’re out here to show Nazis and ICE and DHS and MAGA you are not welcome in Minneapolis," said protester Luke Rimington. "Stay out of our city, stay out of our state. Go home."
Lang appeared to leave the scene with bruises and scrapes on his head, though it was not clear if he carried out his plan to burn the religious text.
State Mobilizes National Guard
The confrontation occurred as Minnesota's Democratic Governor Tim Walz announced the mobilization of the state's National Guard. The troops were "staged and ready" to assist the Minnesota State Patrol with traffic support to protect life, property, and the right to peaceful assembly, though they had not yet been deployed to city streets.
This move came more than a week after Governor Walz, a frequent critic of former President Trump, instructed the Guard to be ready to support law enforcement. The mobilization underscores the heightened tensions in Minneapolis and St. Paul, where daily protests have occurred since the Department of Homeland Security ramped up immigration enforcement by bringing in over 2,000 federal officers.
Demonstrators have railed against aggressive tactics, including masked officers pulling people from homes and cars. The operation claimed at least one life: U.S. citizen and mother of three Renee Good was shot by an ICE officer during a confrontation on January 7.
Community Living in Fear
The federal crackdown has instilled fear in local immigrant communities. During a news conference on Saturday, Garrison Gibson, a 38-year-old Liberian man who has lived in the U.S. for around three decades, said he is now afraid to leave his Minneapolis home.
Gibson was arrested last weekend after federal officers broke down his front door with a battering ram on January 11. Video of the arrest became a rallying point for protesters. Although he was ordered deported due to a dismissed 2008 drug conviction, Gibson had remained in the country legally under an order of supervision.
A judge ruled that federal officials did not give him sufficient notice that his supervision status was revoked. After his release, Gibson was taken back into custody for several hours on Friday during a routine check-in. His cousin, Abena Abraham, claimed that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller ordered the re-arrest, an account the White House denied.
Following another judicial ruling, Gibson was returned home from a Texas detention facility. His family had to use a dumbbell to keep their damaged front door closed in subfreezing temperatures before paying $700 to repair it.
"I don't leave the house," Gibson said, asserting he has done everything required of him. "If I was a violent person, I would not have been out these past 17 years, checking in."
The Department of Homeland Security criticized what it called an "activist judge" for trying to stop the deportation of "criminal illegal aliens." Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated, "We will continue to fight for the arrest, detention, and removal of aliens who have no right to be in this country."
The legal landscape shifted slightly on Friday when a federal judge ruled that immigration officers cannot detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities, including those observing the Minnesota crackdown.
