'Prosecute ICE' sculpture at St. Paul Capitol vandalized after unveiling

Mars King, Pioneer Press on Feb 5, 2026

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ST. PAUL, Minn. — An ice sculpture made out of frozen letters spelling “Prosecute ICE” in front of the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul was vandalized shortly after its unveiling Thursday.

Jake Lang, a Jan. 6 rioter who served four years in prison before being pardoned by President Donald Trump, claimed responsibility for the sculpture’s destruction. Lang posted a video of himself on X, formerly Twitter, kicking the frozen letters.

“I’m currently being arrested outside the Minnesota State Capitol for turning the ‘PROSECUTE ICE’ sign the Democrats erected into the wonderful ‘PRO ICE,'” Lang wrote on X.

At 2:32 p.m. Thursday, Capitol security dispatchers observed someone damaging a display on the front steps of the Capitol, said Lieutenant Mike Lee, a spokesperson for the Minnesota State Patrol, in an email.

A male, later identified as Edward Jacob Lang, a 30-year-old man from Lake Worth, Florida, was seen kicking parts of a permitted display that was set up on the Capitol promenade, Lee said. This resulted in part of the display falling on the ground and breaking.

As he was leaving in a vehicle, Lang was stopped by a Minnesota State Patrol trooper near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and University Avenue where he was arrested without incident, Lee said.

Lang was brought to the Ramsey County Jail to be booked for suspicion of criminal damage to property, Lee said. The investigation is open and active.

The sculpture was installed by veterans with Common Defense, a veteran-led movement dedicated to protecting democracy and combating authoritarianism, according to its website.

“I gave eight years of my life in service to this country in the military. For a January 6 insurrectionist to destroy our display is an attack on the First Amendment veterans like me fought to defend,” said Jacob Thomas, a veteran and communications director for Common Defense, in a news release.

Lang in Minnesota

Lang’s act of vandalism came days before he was set to hold a rally at the Capitol, just weeks after he held a Minneapolis “March Against Fraud,” which was met with counterprotests and violence.

An estimated 2,000 counterprotesters followed the dozens who took part in the march itself. Lang fled after being doused with water, pelted with snowballs and punched by counterprotesters.

In a social media post on Jan. 28, Lang said he would return to Minnesota and claimed he had secured a permit for a noon rally at the State Capitol on Saturday, Feb. 7.

But Minnesota Department of Administration spokesperson Julie Nelsen said Lang had not obtained approval for the gathering because “the space was already reserved.”

The Minnesota State Patrol, which handles security at the Capitol, said Tuesday it was aware of Lang’s plans for a rally and planned to increase its security presence on Saturday.

An anti-Trump group secured a permit for a rally at the Capitol later that day. The People’s Coalition Against Trump is scheduled to gather at 3 p.m. on Saturday, according to a Capitol events calendar.

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