HUNDREDS of counter-protesters drowned out a far-right activist’s attempt to hold a small rally in support of the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown in Minneapolis on Saturday.

Far-right influencer Jake Lang organised an anti-Islam, anti-Somali and pro-Ice demonstration, saying on social media beforehand that he intended to “burn a Koran” on the steps of City Hall. But it was not clear if he carried out that plan.

This came as the governor’s office announced that National Guard troops were mobilised and ready to assist law enforcement though not yet deployed to city streets.

There have been protests every day since the Department of Homeland Security ramped up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers.

Only a small number of people showed up for Mr Lang’s demonstration, while hundreds of counter-protesters converged at the site, yelling over his attempts to speak and chasing the pro-Ice group away. 

They forced at least one person to take off a shirt they deemed objectionable.

Mr Lang was eventually forced to leave the scene in some discomfort. He was previously charged with assaulting an officer with a baseball bat, civil disorder and other crimes before receiving clemency as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping act of clemency for January 6 defendants last year. He recently announced that he is running for the US Senate in Florida.

In Minneapolis, snowballs and water balloons were also thrown before an armoured police van and heavily equipped city police arrived.

“We’re out here to show Nazis and Ice and DHS and Maga you are not welcome in Minneapolis,” protester Luke Rimington said. “Stay out of our city, stay out of our state. Go home.”

The Minneapolis immigration clampdown saw Renee Good, a US citizen and mother of three, shot dead by an Ice officer, Jonathan Ross, during a January 7 confrontation.