Six people were arrested after clashes broke out Saturday during a far-right anti-Muslim protest outside the official residence of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, according to local police.
The incident took place near Gracie Mansion, where about 20 demonstrators linked to far-right Islamophobe Jake Lang gathered for an anti-Muslim protest while 120 counter-protesters assembled nearby, New YorkPolice Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters.
Tensions escalated when a member of the anti-Muslim group allegedly used pepper spray on a counter-protester, and was subsequently arrested, said Tisch.
Others were also arrested for disorderly conduct and blocking traffic as police worked to contain the confrontation.
Two counter-protesters were also arrested after allegedly using smoke-producing devices during the incident, according to officials.
The commissioner said the devices appeared to be “jars wrapped in black tape containing nuts, bolts and screws, fitted with a hobby-style fuse that could be ignited.”
Investigators are examining the objects to determine whether they were functional improvised explosive devices, smoke bombs or hoax devices. No injuries were reported.
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Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, and his wife, Rama Duwaji, were safe during the incident, according to mayoral spokesman Joe Calvello, who said it was not immediately clear whether they were inside the residence at the time.
Calvello condemned the protest, calling Lang a “vile white supremacist,” and he described the protest as “despicable and Islamophobic.”
He added that the mayor remained in contact with the police commissioner and was receiving updates about the situation.
Who is Jake Lang?
Jake Lang is a far-right American activist who has taken part in several protests linked to anti-Muslim and anti-immigration movements in the United States.
He has appeared at demonstrations organised by groups that strongly oppose Islam and Muslim immigration, and he has shared messages online warning about what he describes as the “threat” of Islam in the West.
Critics say his activism promotes hostility toward Muslim communities and fuels negative stereotypes about Islam. He has also been widely accused of being linked to Israel via the “Israel First movement”.
His public statements and protest appearances have therefore drawn concern from Muslim civil rights advocates, who argue that such rhetoric contributes to growing Islamophobia in parts of American political activism.
In December 2025, Lang travelled to Dearborn, Michigan, to conduct a Quran desecration stunt in an area known for a strong community of Arab-Americans.
Later, he travelled to Texas where he held up a pig outside a major mosque and, again, performed a Quran desecration stunt which he filmed and published on X.
His efforts sparked a wave of protests across the Islamic world, prompting Lang to claim online that a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill him had been issued by senior leaders in the Yemeni Houthi movement.
In February 2026, Lang showed up in Minnesota, a city with a strong community of Somali-Americans, and began inciting against locals there amid tensions over ICE activity in the area. He was filmed being chased away by anti-racism activists during one of his Islamophobic protests.
