Spider-Man Attacks Far-Right Activist Jake Lang on His Truck in Minneapolis as Internet Turns Protester Into Folk Hero

A man dressed as Spider-Man leapt onto the back of a moving pickup truck outside Minneapolis City Hall on Saturday and began throwing punches at the far-right activist riding inside it. Within minutes, the masked figure had been pulled off, thrown to the pavement and detained by officers, while online he was already being crowned a folk hero.

The clash was the flashpoint of a rally-turned-riot involving Jake Lang, a pardoned January 6 defendant, that ended with eleven arrests and three injured police officers.

'Unexpected and Abrupt' How the Rally Unfolded

Lang, who had promoted the event as a 'peaceful Freedom of Speech' rally using a racial slur, arrived near South Fourth Street and Third Avenue at around 11.50am on 22 August 2026 with six others travelling in two vehicles. Both vehicles then drove onto the sidewalk toward the assembled crowd, according to the Minneapolis Police Department's own account of the incident.

Interim Police Chief Bill Peterson said at a press conference afterwards that the vehicles moved 'unexpectedly and abruptly' onto the sidewalk adjacent to City Hall, travelling eastbound at a very slow speed through the crowd.

'Almost immediately, a confrontation developed between members of the crowd and individuals associated with both vehicles,' he said, adding that a chemical irritant believed to be mace was deployed during the melee. Private security personnel who appeared to be accompanying Lang, dressed in military-style gear, sprayed pepper spray into the crowd, hitting protesters and journalists alike.

Three Minneapolis police officers were injured in the unrest, with one hospitalised and later released. The melee unfolded in full view of onlookers and journalists who had gathered to cover the rally.

The Costumed Intervention and the 33-Year-Old With No Record

As the truck pushed through the crowd, a man in a full Spider-Man suit climbed onto its bed within roughly a minute of its arrival and lunged at Lang, striking him several times before another masked bystander pulled him back over the side and onto the concrete below. Officers later took the costumed man to the ground and detained him.

Police have not officially confirmed his identity, though the Star Tribune and KARE 11, citing jail records, named him as William Nicholas Love, 33, of the Minneapolis area. He was booked on suspicion of misdemeanour fifth-degree assault with bail set at roughly £237 ($300).

Before Saturday, Love had left almost no public trace: no prior arrests, no known activism and no identifiable social media presence. Lang and six others from his group were arrested on probable-cause riot charges and booked into Hennepin County Jail at 3.51pm, held without bail.

Mayor Jacob Frey defended the right of both sides to demonstrate, telling reporters, 'People on both sides are able to express their First Amendment rights even when I find what they're saying to be abhorrent.' He added that this was 'certainly the case with Jake Lang'.

Jake Lang From Capitol Riot Charges To Pardoned Provocateur

Lang, whose legal name is Edward Jacob Lang, was federally charged over the 2021 Capitol riot with an eleven-count indictment alleging he assaulted officers with a baseball bat and riot shield. The breach occurred at the building's lower west tunnel during the 6 January attack.

He spent nearly four years in pretrial detention before Donald Trump pardoned him in January 2025 as part of a mass clemency for January 6 defendants. This meant he was never convicted of any offence; the charges were dismissed through the pardon.

Since his release, Lang has built a career as a far-right provocateur, organising anti-Muslim and anti-immigration rallies across multiple states. He also briefly launched a run for the US Senate seat in Florida.

He has faced repeated arrests since his pardon, including a District of Columbia charge for threatening a Capitol Police commander and a Texas trespassing charge tied to a stadium protest. He also faces a felony property-damage charge in Minnesota after he kicked over an anti-ICE sculpture outside the state Capitol.

'Freespidey' the Fundraisers, the Hashtag and the Legal Limbo

Video of the truck-top confrontation spread rapidly across social platforms, with the hashtag '#FreeSpidey' trending as users cheered the costumed man's actions. 'Sounds like Spiderman was doing his job,' read one widely shared post on X.

Multiple GoFundMe campaigns sprang up within hours under titles such as 'Support Spider-Man's Legal Defense', with one raising more than £22,120 ($28,000) of its £31,600 ($40,000) target in under a day. Organisers of the campaigns have not confirmed their relationship to the masked man, and prosecutors have yet to say whether formal charges will proceed.

Whatever charges follow, the image of a man in a Spider-Man suit brawling with a pardoned Capitol rioter has already outlived the rally itself.