Protests and Political Violence

Video from downtown Minneapolis shows an unidentified man being chased into a parking garage and struck in the head with a flagpole by a group of apparent anti‑ICE protesters on Saturday afternoon, leaving him with a bleeding head wound as they followed and pepper‑sprayed him while shouting insults and calling him a 'Nazi.' The man, whose jacket was soaked in blood, repeatedly told the crowd he was trying to leave and declined help from at least one woman who asked if he needed assistance before getting into a car that protesters then pounded with flagpoles as it sped away. Earlier at the same protest, pardoned Jan. 6 rioter and Florida Republican Senate candidate Jake Lang was filmed being dragged by demonstrators, bleeding from the back of the head, after joining an Americans Against Islamification 'Crusader March on Little Somalia' that planned a Quran burning at Minneapolis City Hall; Lang later claimed on X that his body armor stopped a stabbing attempt. The Minneapolis Police Department said it is aware of social‑media accounts of Lang being assaulted but that no official report has yet been filed, underscoring how much of the incident is currently documented only via protester and bystander video. The confrontation adds another flashpoint to already tense Minneapolis demonstrations over ICE operations and federal immigration policy, and it is already being weaponized online by pro‑ and anti‑administration voices portraying either a 'lynching' of white Christians or extremist provocation designed to spark violence.