Jake Lang, a Jan. 6 Capitol rioter who was pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump, crashed a cat convention in Seattle and said it was a furry convention.
A claim is spreading online that Jan. 6 Capitol rioter Jake Lang, who was pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump, crashed a cat convention in Seattle because he appeared to believe the event was for furries — people who identify with or enjoy dressing as anthropomorphic animals or creatures.
Videos of the alleged event and jokes about Lang’s apparent mistake spread on X, Facebook and Threads. (Warning: Lang uses profane language and homophobic slurs in the video below).
Lang did, in fact,
Either way, however, it is accurate to say that Lang crashed a cat convention while publicly claiming that it was for furries. As such, we have rated this claim as true.
The video shows Lang yelling slurs at people wearing pink shirts and cat ears who appeared to be convention staff. Lang accused them of “sexualizing children” and spreading “homosexual and transsexual ideas.” Lang also claimed the organizers were “mislabeling” the convention before one of the people in pink shirts stepped in.
“This is a convention for cats,” the person tells Lang in the video. Lang, in response, doubles down, asking why there were furries at Sea-Meow. (Being a furry is not inherently sexual, and academic research indicates that furries are more likely to identify as such for nonsexual reasons, like social belonging.)
The “Sea-Meow” sign is clearly visible in Lang’s videos, and there is no evidence the videos were generated using artificial intelligence.
While at least one person in a fur suit — the costumes furries are known for — was visible in Lang’s video, Sea-Meow is clearly about cats, not furries. The convention describes itself as “the premier cat convention of the Purrcific NW, the mecca of cat people.” Sea-Meow’s stated mission makes it clear that it’s focused on supporting cats, not furries:
Our mission is rooted in the celebration of our love of cats by bringing together all the cat people under one roof and supporting feline organizations around the United States in meaningful ways. We aim to connect our community, educate and spread feline awareness, inspire people to participate in the animal welfare community, and help cats conquer the world, one home at a time!
Programming for Sea-Meow, which ran Nov. 7 and 8, included panels with cat rescuers and a presentation by Jackson Galaxy, a cat behaviorist and YouTuber perhaps best known for hosting the now-defunct Animal Planet show “My Cat From Hell.” Sea-Meow’s website also said that 15% of ticket proceeds went to charities like the Seattle Animal Shelter and Feral Care, a nonprofit organization that provides food and shelter to “unadoptable cats.”
Videos on Sea-Meow’s social media largely show people of all ages cuddling cats, with nary a fur suit in sight. Sea-Meow’s sponsors include Weruva, a cat food company, and BluePearl Pet Hospital, which operates specialty and emergency vet hospitals across the United States.
Sea-Meow’s programming did include a “cat cosplay contest,” but photos of example cosplays did not show any fur suits, instead depicting people dressed like Hello Kitty, a “taco cat” and other non-furry costumes.
We reached out to Sea-Meow to ask if the convention had any programming or policies about furries and if Lang ever actually made it past the doors, given that his videos are filmed outside of the actual convention building. We await a response.
Leave a Reply