https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/08/watch-spider-man-punch-a-anti-lgbtq-protestor-in-the-face/
Daniel Villarreal (he/him)August 25, 2026, 11:30 am EDTJake Lang — a racist and anti-LGBTQ+ Republican former candidate for Florida’s U.S. Senate seat who was jailed for allegedly assaulting Capitol Police officers during the January 6, 2021, riots — held a hate rally outside of City Hall in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during which he held up a sign that said, “Jake Lang loves Black people but hates [n-words].” Before he left, a counterprotester dressed as Spider-Man punched him in the face, and the punch was clearly captured on video. Lang was arrested soon after.
Lang’s rally was reportedly in response to 37-year-old white woman Shiloh Hendrix being found guilty of disorderly conduct after calling an autistic 8-year-old Black boy the racial slur at a playground in the Minnesotan city of Rochester. Lang appeared at City Hall on Saturday around 11:50 am in the back of a truck, protected by guards and Minneapolis Police and followed by an additional SUV, Newsweek reported.
The rally devolved into violence as counterprotestors attacked Lang and his crew, forcing them to flee City Hall after barely being there for six minutes. Shortly after their escape, police arrested Lang and charged him with inciting a riot; police also impounded the truck and SUV that Lang brought to City Hall.
Police also arrested the man in the Spider-Man costume, later identified as William Nicholas Love, along with 10 others. A GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign for Love’s legal defense has nearly raised all of its $70,000 goal as of Tuesday morning. He has been charged with assault. Meanwhile, Lang remains in jail without bond.
Despite Lang’s racist display, last January, a Black transgender woman helped rescue him from an angry mob of 100 anti-racist counterprotestors in Minneapolis.
In that incident, Lang had promised to lead a march through the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood (which has Minneapolis’ highest concentration of Somali-American residents) before burning a Quran on the steps of City Hall. But he reportedly didn’t get to do either because the counter-protestors — who outnumbered the 10 attendees at Lang’s event — cornered him outside City Hall before attacking him and chasing him away.
The anti-racist counterprotestors threw objects and water balloons at Lang before a 30-year-old Black Minneapolis resident named Isaiah Blackwell helped Lang escape.
Trump pardoned Lang after he had served four years in prison for attacking a U.S. Capitol police officer during the January 6, 2021, riots.
During a Pride Month protest last June, in front of an audience of two people, Lang struggled to burn a rainbow flag.
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