Minneapolis prepares for ‘March Against Minnesota Fraud’ led by right-wing influencer

Tensions boiled over Tuesday night at a West Bank Business Association public safety meeting, where residents and Democratic politicians voiced fears that an upcoming “March Against Minnesota Fraud” could lead to harassment of Somali community members.

The march, planned for 1 p.m. Jan. 17 at Minneapolis City Hall, is organized by conservative influencer Jake Lang, who has been advertising the march on X. In a post, he called for “crusaders” to “take back” Minnesota from Democrats.

Dozens filed into the Jan. 13 meeting in the Brian Coyle Community Center — a gathering place for the Minneapolis’ Cedar Riverside neighborhood and many in the Somali community. Minnesota Rep. Mohamud Noor said that while the march is expected to start downtown, he’s fearful it will move into neighborhoods with high Somali populations, such as Cedar Riverside, in order to film and provoke people.

“We need to provide more support to the community, so that they know that everybody has got a right to be here, and everybody will be protected from this nonsense and the mayhem that is happening all over the city,” Noor said in his opening remarks.

Lang did not return requests for comment sent Wednesday to his social media accounts. According to the description on the Eventbrite reservation page, “Christians and conservatives from across Minnesota and beyond will gather at Minneapolis City Hall for a peaceful public rally calling for transparency, accountability, and responsible governance.”

The event page does not say how many have RSVP’d to show up.

It’s described as a march against “$8 billion dollars of fraud” from social service programs “that occurred from certain communities under Gov. Tim Walz’s watch.” Federal prosecutors have alleged that the amount of money pilfered from social programs in recent years could exceed $9 billion, though Walz has asserted that number is speculation.

A viral YouTube video posted Dec. 26 by conservative influencer Nick Shirley alleged that Somali-owned day care providers had defrauded the state of $111 million. The unsubstantiated claim drew national attention and prompted the Trump administration to say it would freeze child care funds to Minnesota and demand audits of some day care centers.

After disparaging the Somali population, President Donald Trump also ramped up Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Minnesota. Legal Somali immigrants and U.S. citizens have begun carrying passports, and sales at immigrant-owned businesses have chilled.

The planned protest comes at a tumultuous time in Minnesota, a week after Renee Good was shot and killed in her car by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.

The shooting sparked intense protests and marches by residents who say the shooting was an unlawful use of force and part of a discriminatory operation carried out by the federal government targeting people of color.

Noor added that the Somali community and the city in general has been “traumatized” by seeing the shooting of Good, and the ongoing ICE presence in the Cedar Riverside area. Earlier that day, ICE agents were present outside of his children’s school when he picked them up, Noor said.

One of Lang’s posts on X takes a more political tone about the March on Saturday, calling for residents to “take back Minnesota” from “corrupt tampon” Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. The post includes a video of Lang standing alongside ICE officers at the Whipple Federal Building, holding a sign that reads “We love ICE.”

Some speakers emphasized that they worry Lang or others in the march could try to provoke given he’s made Islamophobic gestures in the past. That includes a rally in Texas where he raised up a severed pig head with a copy of the Quran in its mouth.

Lang spent four years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He was convicted on 11 charges including assault for attacking Capitol police officers with a baseball bat. He was then pardoned in 2025 by Trump.

Minneapolis Police Inspector Bill Peterson reassured residents at Tuesday’s meeting in Minneapolis that they have prepared for the event. He also noted the city is “hyper aware” that the Cedar Riverside neighborhood could be a target.

“You can expect to see uniformed Minneapolis police officers in marked squad cars within this neighborhood before the event kicks off, and our plan is to keep them here throughout the event,” Peterson said.

A couple of neighborhood residents said they want key roads to be closed off to prevent marchers from making their way into Cedar Riverside. Others urged that police work with community leaders to have a communication plan in place to keep them updated on the march.

Peterson was receptive to putting in place a system of rapid updates from local police. He said there are no plans for police to reroute or close any roads ahead of the protest, but he said the department will weigh whether it’s necessary as it unfolds.

The inspector emphasized his hope that the marchers and counterprotesters respect everybody’s First Amendment rights and do not escalate to violence.

“If we can keep this to words, that would be the best-case scenario for us,” Peterson said.