Jake Lang’s lawsuits fall into three buckets: a civil rights suit he filed against U.S. Capitol Police and D.C. Metropolitan Police over their conduct on January 6, 2021, which was dismissed and which the Supreme Court declined to revive in January 2026; a $200 million federal suit he filed in late 2025 against the city of Dearborn, Michigan, over an anti-Islam protest; and a Supreme Court petition in his own criminal case that succeeded in vacating one of his January 6 charges before a presidential pardon ended the prosecution entirely.
Police Brutality Suit Against Capitol and D.C. Police
The civil case is Edward Jacob Lang v. Daniel Thau. Lang sued the U.S. Capitol Police, the Metropolitan Police Department, their leadership, and individual officers, alleging that police used excessive force against demonstrators at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.1The Washington Times. Jan. 6 Defendant Pursues Legal Battle Over Police Brutality
A U.S. district judge dismissed the case after Lang failed to comply with procedural rules and missed the deadline for correcting the errors. Lang argued the missed deadline was a consequence of being held in solitary confinement at a Brooklyn federal prison, where he said he could not answer his phone or manage his case.1The Washington Times. Jan. 6 Defendant Pursues Legal Battle Over Police Brutality
His attorney, Edward Lacy Tarpley Jr., petitioned the Supreme Court to reinstate the suit, docketed as No. 25-483 on October 20, 2025 and distributed for conference on January 9, 2026. The petition argued that Lang’s incarceration provided a valid reason for the procedural failures.2Supreme Court of the United States. Docket 25-483, Lang v. Thau On January 12, 2026, the Court denied certiorari, ending the case.3Supreme Court of the United States. Order List, January 12, 2026
The conditions Lang cited to explain the missed deadline were the same ones his criminal defense had raised earlier. A September 2021 motion for release described more than three months in solitary, cell confinement of 22 to 23 hours a day for extended periods, and alleged physical abuse by guards.4George Washington University Extremism. Defense Motion for Conditional Release Pending Trial U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols denied that release motion, citing Lang’s lack of remorse.5Courthouse News Service. Rioter Who Hit Police With a Baseball Bat Loses Bid for Jail Release
The $200 Million Lawsuit Against Dearborn
Lang’s active civil case is a federal lawsuit filed in Detroit against the city of Dearborn, Michigan, the Dearborn Police Department, the Dearborn City Council, and Mayor Abdullah Hammoud. He seeks $200 million and alleges that officials violated his First Amendment rights and that police failed to protect him and his group from counter-protesters.6The Arab American News. Far-Right Islamophobe Who Tried to Burn Quran in Dearborn Sues City for $200 Million
The suit grew out of a November 18, 2025 rally Lang led in Dearborn under the banner “Americans Against Islamization.” He threatened to burn a Quran, struck a copy with bacon, and traded shoves and blows with counter-protesters. Lang said he was pepper-sprayed and punched during the confrontation.7CBS News Detroit. Jake Lang Sues Dearborn After Anti-Islam Protest6The Arab American News. Far-Right Islamophobe Who Tried to Burn Quran in Dearborn Sues City for $200 Million Three people were arrested at the event.8The Detroit News. Dearborn, State Leaders Urge Unity After Clashing Protests Boil Over
Dearborn officials responded to the underlying events rather than the suit itself. At a November 21, 2025 press conference at the city’s Interfaith Center, Mayor Hammoud said the protest was an attempt to “manufacture anger and divide neighbors” and declared that “Dearborn will not be divided.” Representative Rashida Tlaib called the protest “a wave of hate speech aimed at an entire community.”9The Arab American News. Rejecting Religious Incitement, Dearborn Holds Major Press Conference Affirming City’s Unity Local leaders called Lang’s tactics a “classic right-wing provocateur ploy” designed to goad residents into confrontation so he could claim victimhood.10Mirror News. Anti-Muslim Protest in Dearborn
Lang returned to the Dearborn area in May 2026 in incidents that may bear on the litigation. On May 10, he drove a rented U-Haul through a crowd of counter-protesters in Hamtramck near a mosque. Later that day, Dearborn police stopped him on Ford Road and arrested him on suspicion of possessing psychedelic mushrooms found in the truck.11Dearborn.org. Anti-Islam Agitator Jake Lang Arrested in Dearborn for Illegal Substance Possession On May 11, he burned a copy of the Quran near the Islamic Center of America; an officer extinguished the flames, and Lang threw the damaged book toward the center.12The Arab American News. Quran Burning Attempts by Extremist Agitator Trigger Outrage in Hamtramck and Dearborn
Supreme Court Challenge to the Obstruction Charge
Lang’s other Supreme Court matter came out of his own criminal defense, not a civil suit. In July 2023, his attorneys filed a petition for certiorari (No. 23-32) arguing that 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2), the obstruction-of-an-official-proceeding statute, was being misapplied to violent conduct during a riot when the law was written to address evidence tampering.13SCOTUSblog. Lang v. United States
On July 2, 2024, the Supreme Court granted the petition, vacated the lower court’s judgment, and remanded the case to the D.C. Circuit for reconsideration in light of Fischer v. United States, which narrowed § 1512(c)(2).14Supreme Court of the United States. Docket 23-32, Lang v. United States The ruling knocked out the obstruction charge that had been used broadly against January 6 defendants. The pardon issued months later made the remand academic for Lang, though the underlying ruling continued to affect other cases.
How the January 6 Criminal Case Ended
Lang was charged in an 11-count federal indictment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Case No. 1:21-cr-00053-CJN). The counts included three civil disorder charges, two counts of assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon (a shield and a bat), obstruction of an official proceeding, and multiple counts tied to disorderly conduct and violence on restricted Capitol grounds.15U.S. Department of Justice. Indictment of Edward Jacob Lang He pleaded not guilty and spent four years in pretrial detention.16The River Reporter. Newly Free From Prison, Local Insurrectionist Plans to Return to Sullivan County
Federal prosecutors described Lang’s conduct on January 6, 2021 as pushing a door against a sergeant’s head while kicking the officer at least five times, repeatedly kicking a detective on the ground, striking another officer with a stolen riot shield, and attacking police with an aluminum baseball bat until he was shot in the foot with a rubber bullet.17George Washington University Extremism. Government Opposition to Defense Motion for Release16The River Reporter. Newly Free From Prison, Local Insurrectionist Plans to Return to Sullivan County18MSNBC. Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioter Arrested Yet Again, Accused of Making Terroristic Threats
Criminal Cases That Aren’t Lawsuits
Lang has picked up several criminal charges since his release that are sometimes lumped together with his civil litigation. They are not lawsuits, but they are worth flagging so the picture is clear.
In February 2026, Lang kicked over an ice sculpture reading “Prosecute ICE” on the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, recording himself rearranging the letters to read “Pro ICE.” Organizers said the sculpture cost more than $6,000 to make.19MPR News. Far-Right Influencer Jake Lang Charged With Damaging Ice Sculpture at Minnesota Capitol20KFGO. Jake Lang Charged in Minnesota Capitol Sculpture Vandalism He pleaded not guilty on March 4, 2026, calling the act “exercising my First Amendment right to artistic expression.” A judge ordered him to stay at least three blocks from the State Capitol. Trial is set for July 27, 2026.21CBS News Minnesota. Jake Lang Arrested After Sculpture Vandalism at Minnesota Capitol
Two Texas arrests followed in June 2026. On June 2, Lang was booked in Frisco on a criminal trespass warrant tied to an April 2025 incident and released on a $7,500 bond with a condition barring him from within 200 feet of the Collin County courthouse.22The Dallas Morning News. Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioter Jake Lang Arrested in Karmelo Anthony Case23CBS News. Jake Lang Arrested in Texas on Charge of Terroristic Threats Lang has called the terroristic-threat charge “a classic case of lawfare used to squash a First Amendment protester like myself.”
As of mid-2026, Lang is the only pardoned January 6 defendant to have been charged with new crimes on four separate occasions since receiving clemency.18MSNBC. Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioter Arrested Yet Again, Accused of Making Terroristic Threats