Nowadays, it’s no longer bizarre for Republican Party candidates to perform some rather shocking feats in their campaign. One GOP senator candidate, however, might have taken things too far because he tried to burn and insult the Quran in front of a Muslim crowd, and in a protest in Michigan, nonetheless. His actions, however, were quickly thwarted– twice.
Jake Lang is the candidate in question, and although he’s running for the Florida Senate, he recently went to Dearborn, Michigan, with his own anti-Muslim protest crowd to clash with the pro-Muslim protest. In a video captured by journalist Brendan Gutenschwager, Lang can be seen walking out of a bus onto the sidewalk, carrying a Quran and a can of kerosene while shouting, alluding to how the Muslim prophet was a criminal then trying to burn the Muslim bible. Here’s footage of the incident:
Another man managed to grab the Quran before it could be burned. Lang tried to wrestle the Quran back, but to no avail. He then returned to his bus, claiming, “We got another Quran, I’ll go get a different one.” Still, before Lang could get another Quran, he got into a heated debate with the Muslim crowd, and the GOP candidate can be heard justifying his actions by saying, “On 9/11, Bibles were burned all over the country,” and “This is America.”
Afterward, Lang went to the bus’s storage compartment and grabbed not just another copy of the Quran but also a pack of raw bacon. Lang then proceeded to slap the bacon pack against the Quran, further riling up the pro-Muslim protesters. As Lang was slapping the Quran with the bacon, another protester grabbed the book out of his hands, ruining his anti-Muslim gesture once more.
Jake Lang’s long history with the GOP
The protest, which took place on November 18, had other notable incidents where a random man even sucker-punched Lang during their march. Turns out Lang is no stranger to causing public disputes, as he was a January 6 rioter back in the Capitol in 2021. President Donald Trump pardoned him this year.
Lang was notably charged with 11 offences, including assaulting police officers. Thanks to Trump’s pardon, Lang was allowed to run for the Florida Senate. Despite Lang’s Republican ties, another GOP candidate, Anthony Hudson, who also held a similar protest on the same day, has distanced himself from the January 6 rioters.
Ironically enough, Arab Americans, particularly those living in Michigan, hit the headlines earlier in the year for helping Donald Trump win the US Presidency at 42 percent of the vote (compared to Harris’ 36 percent). More than half of the population in Dearborn, Michigan, is either of Middle Eastern or North African descent, with Islamic roots, and sadly, it appears many of them voted for Trump.
