A man who was charged with attacking police during the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot announced he is running for Senate in Florida.
“WE ARE TAKING OVER THE CAPITOL AGAIN” Jake Lang wrote in a post on X. “Today I am blessed by God to officially announce my candidacy for US Senate in the great State of Florida!!”
Lang was caught on video during the Capitol riot using a bat to beat police as he attempted to enter the building. Lang also yelled, “this is our house. We paid for this fucking building.” After the riot he wrote on social media: “arrest me,” according to the Justice Department.
Lang was pardoned by Donald Trump earlier this year as he awaited trial. While in prison, Lang attempted to form a militia group with other Jan. 6 defendants called the North American Patriot and Liberty Militia, or NAPALM. He created online fundraisers, collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars for other rioters.
Lang is originally from New York but will be seeking Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s former Senate seat in Florida.
Lang told the Miami New Times that he decided to run for office in Florida because the state is welcoming to Jan. 6 insurrectionists.
“They love the Jan Sixers,” he said. “As I’ve been going around these last 50 days here in Florida, making campaign videos and seeing business owners and friends of mine here and talking to strangers in the public, I’ve had dozens of people cry on my shoulder, come out and congratulate and hug and consider us to be patriot heroes and founding father-style leaders.”
Some Republicans in Florida are dismissing Lang’s candidacy as a long shot.
“Every cycle, both parties have insane candidates with a less than 0% chance of winning enter a race, but they do it anyway. This is one of those cases,” executive director of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans, Jake Hoffman told the Florida Phoenix
