Fact Check: Viral Photo of ‘Minneapolis Spider-Man’ Punching Jake Lang Is Authentic

A photograph that went viral online after a chaotic protest in Minneapolis is real. The image shows a person dressed as Spider-Man drawing back his arm as if to punch Jake Lang during the Aug. 22, 2026, demonstration near Minneapolis City Hall.

The photo was taken by photojournalist Chris Juhn, who posted the image and additional frames to his Bluesky and Facebook accounts on Aug. 24. In his Bluesky post, Juhn wrote: “I witnessed Spider-Man going into action yesterday in Minneapolis. He rode in on the back of a muscle car. Then leaped onto the pickup, right before unleashing a hail of fists onto his nemesis, Jake Lang, Jayden Scott, and their minions.”

Juhn’s caption and photo set describe a violent confrontation that broke out amid competing demonstrations. The Minneapolis Police Department said 11 people were arrested in connection with the protests. The arrest list included Lang and William Nicholas Love. Newsweek later reported that police confirmed Love was wearing the Spider-Man costume.

The authenticity of the Juhn images matters because the same incident also produced at least one AI-generated photo that circulated online and was debunked by fact-checkers. The split between real and fake imagery illustrates how quickly visual misinformation can blur the line between documentary evidence and digital fabrication during breaking news events.

The Minneapolis photos remain widely shared, in part because of the surreal image of a comic-book character wading into a real-world political clash. They also underscored the heightened tensions around protests and counter-protests in the summer of 2026, where confrontations were documented in real time by both journalists and bystanders.