08/26/2026
STAR TRIBUNE REVEALS DAYS OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN JAKE LANG’S TEAM AND MINNEAPOLIS POLICE
The Minnesota Star Tribune reviewed dozens of messages showing several days of coordination between far-right agitator Jake Lang’s security team and MPD Lt. Deitan Dubuc before Saturday’s rally. Lang’s team sent police its planned route, detailed itinerary, staging photos and information about all three vehicles. When it sent a photo of four men wearing ballistic helmets and vests, Dubuc replied, “You guys are looking ready,” with a fist-bump emoji 👊
STAR TRIBUNE REVEALS DAYS OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN JAKE LANG’S TEAM AND MINNEAPOLIS POLICE
The Minnesota Star Tribune reviewed dozens of messages showing several days of coordination between far-right agitator Jake Lang’s security team and MPD Lt. Deitan Dubuc before Saturday’s rally. Lang’s team sent police its planned route, detailed itinerary, staging photos and information about all three vehicles. When it sent a photo of four men wearing ballistic helmets and vests, Dubuc replied, “You guys are looking ready,” with a fist-bump emoji 👊
The later messages add important context. Dubuc told the group it could not receive special treatment, that laws could not be broken, that its members would be asked to move along like everyone else and that driving on the sidewalk was illegal. MPD says it never authorized the vehicles to use the sidewalk. Still, the extent and tone of the coordination deserve scrutiny, especially because prosecutors later cited those communications while explaining why felony riot charges could not be proven.
Reporting by Liz Sawyer and Jeff Day, Minnesota Star Tribune.