Jake Lang attempted to burn a Quran in Dearborn, sparking violent clashes with hundreds of Muslim counter-protesters

A Florida Christian nationalist and pardoned January 6 rioter attempted to burn a Quran on a busy Dearborn street Tuesday afternoon, triggering chaotic clashes between anti-Islam protesters and hundreds of local Muslim residents in what is now the most serious public confrontation in the city since 2011.

Jake Lang, 28, arrived in a rented box truck that still bore decals from a now-canceled “American Crusade” rally organized by Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Anthony Hudson. Around 3:15 p.m. on Michigan Avenue, Lang stepped into the roadway holding a Quran wrapped in an American flag, poured lighter fluid on it, and repeatedly tried to ignite it while shouting slurs against Islam and claiming Dearborn had fallen under “Sharia law.”

Dozens of Muslim counter-protesters immediately surrounded him, physically blocking the flames and snatching the book away twice. In a second provocation, Lang slapped the Quran with a slab of raw bacon before a young man ripped it from his hands and ran. Cell-phone footage shows Lang being punched in the face and pepper-sprayed as chants of “Allahu Akbar” drowned out his supporters’ cries of “Christ is King.”

Dearborn police, already on high alert after weeks of online threats, formed rapid-response lines and separated the groups with bicycles and riot shields. One arrest was made near City Hall when the crowds marched there for a scheduled council meeting; charges are pending. No serious injuries were reported, though several people were treated for pepper-spray exposure.

The incident caps a month of escalating tension in the majority-Arab city of 110,000, home to America’s largest Muslim population per capita. Earlier this month, Hudson had posted videos calling Dearborn a “no-go zone” and vowing to “take our country back” from “radical Islamic infiltration.”

After backlash and personal visits to local mosques, Hudson publicly apologized on November 15, declared that “Sharia law does not exist here,” and canceled his planned march. Lang, however, used Hudson’s original rented truck (without permission) and pressed ahead with the provocation.

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel Jr. condemned the attempted Quran burning as “unacceptable hate” and praised Dearborn’s diversity. CAIR-Michigan executive director Dawud Walid called the event “a deliberate act of religious desecration designed to incite violence” and thanked residents for preventing an actual burning.

Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, re-elected just two weeks ago with 92% of the vote, urged calm, stating, “Dearborn will not be defined by imported hatred.”

By nightfall, viral videos of the bacon-slapping and near-burning had already reached tens of millions of views on X, TikTok, and Instagram, with hashtags #DearbornClash and #QuranBurn trending nationwide. Far-right accounts celebrated Lang as a hero “exposing the takeover,” while Muslim and progressive users highlighted residents shielding the holy book and decried rising Islamophobia.

As of Wednesday morning, Dearborn police have increased patrols around mosques and City Hall, and the FBI’s Detroit field office confirmed it is “monitoring the situation” for potential civil-rights violations.

Community leaders are calling for federal hate-crime scrutiny, while some conservative commentators argue Lang’s actions, however offensive, are protected speech. With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching and emotions still raw, authorities fear copycat provocations in the coming days. For continuing coverage, stay with local and national outlets.