The Ramsey County Attorney’s office has charged far-right Internet provocateur and former Jan. 6 rioter Edward Jacob Lang with one count of felony damage to property after he knocked over an elaborate ice sculpture on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol.

Lang, a 30-year-old influencer known to his online followers as Jake Lang, filmed himself kicking and shoving the large block letters of a “Prosecute ICE” sculpture around 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 5. The display had been permitted, according to charges, and commissioned by the Common Defense Organization for $6,250, which was paid to a Twin Cities artist.

Officials with the organization later told a State Patrol trooper they had intended to donate the sculpture to a local business once the permit expired.

Instead, Lang kicked over several block letters to leave the display reading “Pro ICE,” then got into a Dodge RAM truck and drove off, according to charges.

Minnesota State Patrol stopped the vehicle and took Lang into custody. He said at the time he was “exercising his First Amendment right to artistic expression.” Lang, who holds a Florida license, also said he had recorded the incident and posted it to his social media account.

The Ramsey County Sheriff’s office agreed to accommodate his request to be placed into protective custody status.

Lang, who is in the Twin Cities for what he has described as a planned rally this weekend outside the State Capitol, is expected to make his first appearance in Ramsey County District Court on Friday afternoon.

Following the riots at the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, Lang spent approximately four years in jail awaiting a repeatedly-delayed trial for allegedly beating U.S. Capitol officers with a bat before being pardoned and released by President Donald Trump.

Lang attempted to hold an anti-fraud and anti-Somali demonstration that drew about 10 supporters outside Minneapolis City Hall last month but he was violently forced away by a crowd of protesters and fled into a passing car driven by a Black trans woman, who had no connection to him or the protest.

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