Minneapolis ‘Spider-Man’ pleads not guilty to assault charges

Filed 2h ago · Via Courthouse News · The Buffoon Desk

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Flight of the Bumblebee

Rimsky-Korsakov — U.S. Air Force Band · Public Domain

Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

William Nicholas Love, dressed as Spider-Man, pleaded not guilty Friday to misdemeanor assault after climbing onto a truck driven by far-right activist Jake Lang during an Aug. 22 confrontation outside Minneapolis City Hall. Vehicles associated with Lang had driven onto a sidewalk toward protesters gathered against a rally for Shiloh Hendrix.

About 100 supporters, some in their own Spider-Man costumes, chanted for the charges to be dropped outside the courthouse. Love's attorney argues that driving trucks at a crowd is itself an assault, and that Lang's group, not his client, should face charges.

Lang, who served time for the Capitol riot before a presidential pardon, was released after prosecutors declined felony charges, calling his conduct 'despicable' but insufficient to prove intent. Love's next hearing is Nov. 19; GoFundMe pages for his defense have raised more than $160,000.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

A man in a costume climbs on a truck to stop it from driving into a crowd, and he is the one standing in front of a judge. The truck driver walks with a pardon on his résumé and a prosecutor's shrug about proving intent. If a rubber suit and a bruised jaw is what it takes to get called a hero these days, that says less about the man in the mask than the people who were supposed to stop the truck first.

Source: Read the original at Courthouse News → Scored: Flight of the Bumblebee · Rimsky-Korsakov — U.S. Air Force Band · CC BY 4.0

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