(RNS) — As thousands of people celebrated the second day of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in a Seattle convention center on Saturday (Nov. 7), two far-right agitators stormed into the room holding placards that read “Deport All Dot Heads” and “Stop Hindu replacement of Christians.”
Jake Lang, center, and Thomas Allen, left, disrupt a Diwali celebration at the Seattle Center Armory Food & Event Hall, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, in Seattle. (Video screen grab)
Visitors from across Washington state traveled to the Seattle Center Armory Food & Event Hall for the family-friendly event, which featured six hours of music and dance performances, roti making, henna, block printing, free food and baby cows, festival organizer Latha Sambamurti said. About an hour and a half into the event, a group of student dancers in red and gold saris performed onstage a Bharatnatyam version of the Narakasuravadham, an Indian classical dance depicting the defeat of the demon Narakasura. The narrative is central to the Diwali festival, which celebrates the victory of good over evil.
In the middle of their performance, the agitators entered. Crowd members rushed forward to push them toward the exit, a video shows, yelling at them to get out as one of the agitators shouted, “This is a Christian country!”
While the incident lasted less than a minute, the display of anti-Hindu and anti-Indian xenophobia put community members on edge.
“This is very unexpected in a city like Seattle,” said Antara Datta, the artistic director of Anga Kala Kathak Academy in Seattle, whose students performed at the festival. “There are people from all different religions, and they have always coexisted very peacefully.”
Datta said the families in attendance were shaken.
Sambamurti, who has been organizing the annual festival since its inception in 2013, was standing by the stage when the disruption started. Immediately, she recalled, a group of both Indian and white Americans — including hockey fans who had stopped by prior to a Seattle Kraken game — stepped up to swiftly restore order.
“We are so fortunate to live in such a wonderful place where people under this roof feel that we are all the same,” she said, thanking those who stood up to the agitators. “Together, we all make our community very strong and peaceful.”
The young performers on stage, who could only see the back of the placards, kept dancing throughout.
The two agitators, Jake Lang and Thomas Allen, are well-known for hate speech and harassment targeted at Hindus, Muslims, LGBTQ+ people and other groups around the country. Neither immediately responded to a request for comment.
Lang was arrested, charged with several crimes, including assaulting law enforcement, and held in jail for four years after partaking in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. President Donald Trump, during his second term, pardoned him.
Following the incident, Lang posted a video of it and claimed he was “ASSAULTED by dozens of ANTIFA & HINDUS” at the Diwali festival and wrote, “Hindus flipped Texas blue,” with an expletive, on X.
Allen has been charged with assault in Oregon for shoving an anti-ICE protester who, as a result, hit her head on a concrete pole, local media reported.
The Diwali incident was widely condemned by elected officials.
“I am beyond disgusted by this vile and racist display,” wrote Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who represents most of Seattle in the U.S. House of Representatives. “Diwali is an important holiday, and our community should feel safe to celebrate it.”
The disruption comes amidst a wave of increasing anti-South Asian and anti-Hindu attacks, both online and in-person. An averted mass shooting at an Illinois Hindu temple during the major festival of Navaratri in October worried Hindus across the country.
Just as bystanders expelled Lang and Allen from the celebration, the dancers on stage arrived at the end of their performance, Sambamurti said, reenacting the vanquishing of the evil demon Narakasura and celebrating the victory of good over evil. The timing, she said, felt symbolic.
“This is the real symbol of Diwali — it’s not just lighting lamps. It is about illuminating our hearts, standing up to negativity, protecting what is good and choosing light over darkness,” Sambamurti said. “That’s exactly what happened there.”
“The children kept dancing. The celebration continued,” she added. “The light was not dimmed.”
