A pardoned Jan. 6 rioter carrying a large wooden cross planned to march toward the 9/11 memorial in Lower Manhattan on the attacks' 25th anniversary, sparking street fights between his supporters and counterprotesters as NYPD officers formed a human shield around him to prevent locals from injuring him before he fled the scene in a bus. Jake Lang, described as a far-right propagandist and provocateur, held signs calling for the deportation of Muslims and Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim, as counterprotesters shouted him down and NYPD made arrests nearby.
According to amNewYork, Lang intended to disrupt the 25th anniversary observance of the attacks, which killed nearly 2,800 people 25 years before September 11, 2026, and included the reading of victims' names by family and friends. Lang occupied City Hall Park and remained at the intersection of Church and Cortlandt streets for more than an hour as his supporters brandished white nationalist imagery, including a crusader helmet, while a separate group across from Lang performed a Nazi salute, the outlet reports.
NYPD Holds the Line at Church and Cortlandt
NYPD blocked the hate march from passing beyond Church and Cortlandt streets, and officers ultimately created a human shield around Lang to prevent locals from injuring him while counterprotesters and Lang supporters fought outside City Hall, per the same account. New Yorkers told Lang to “get out of New York,” and Lang was recorded chanting “do you remember?” as he attempted to march toward the memorial before NYPD arrested two men outside City Hall, the report notes. Lang eventually fled into a bus and hung out of its open door as it sped away, according to the article.
Lang's presence at a solemn city commemoration was not an isolated flare-up. A journalist covering the incident should understand it as part of a sustained, multi-state campaign of anti-Islam demonstrations Lang has staged since his release, as detailed by Complex.
A Post-Pardon Pattern of Provocation and Arrests
President Donald Trump issued an executive pardon on January 20, 2025, releasing Lang from federal custody, where he had spent four years awaiting trial on 11 federal counts, including civil disorder and assaulting police officers with an aluminum baseball bat during the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, according to Newsweek. Lang was originally arrested after the Capitol attack, the outlet reports.
Two Pennsylvania men and two suspected devices were present at an anti-Islam demonstration led by Lang.
Dearborn, Dallas, Minneapolis and Los Angeles
On August 18, 2026, Lang organized a rally dubbed the “Christian Crusader March” outside a city council meeting in Dearborn, Michigan, drawing self-described Crusaders and people wearing swastika armbands and sparking clashes that drew police in riot gear and resulted in 22 arrests, according to New Lines Magazine. Local Dearborn officials were forced to relocate the council meeting to manage crowd safety, the magazine notes.
Lang's legal troubles have piled up alongside the rallies. He was arrested at a Dallas airport on June 9, 2026, on a third-degree felony charge of making terroristic threats after allegedly livestreaming threats to shoot a murder trial defendant in Collin County, Texas, CBS News reported, noting that Lang claimed his video statements were protected First Amendment speech. He was also confronted and chased away by crowds outside the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on June 28, 2026, after showing up with racist signs to protest the BET Awards, per Complex. Earlier in 2026, Lang was arrested in Minnesota over alleged vandalism of a state-capitol sculpture, according to CBS News.
Mamdani's Historic First Year Under Fire
Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as the 112th mayor of New York City on January 1, 2026, after winning the November 2025 election, becoming both the first Muslim and the first South Asian person to lead the city, according to a Wikipedia summary of his mayoralty. Mamdani previously represented Astoria in the New York State Assembly, a background that has made him a frequent target for right-wing agitators.
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, New York's relationship with Muslim communities became part of the broader public debate. The 2026 ceremonies marked the 25th anniversary of attacks that killed nearly 2,800 people, the outlet reports.
