# Minnesota PATRIOT Act *Minnesota state law enacted in 2002, invoked in at least one terrorism-enhanced prosecution in Ramsey County.* The **Minnesota PATRIOT Act**, also called the 2002 PATRIOT Act, is a [[Minnesota]] statute. According to a validated research dossier, the Ramsey County Attorney's office used it to charge eight activists before the 2008 Republican National Convention.[^1] The sources assembled for this entry do not include the enacting session law, the statute's text, its section numbers, or its legislative sponsors and votes. The entry therefore does not describe the law's provisions or say who enacted it. It records the one documented use the sources carry. The terrorism enhancements in that prosecution were withdrawn in May 2009.[^1] The prosecutor who brought the charges, [[Susan Gaertner]], was later named to Minnesota's [[Peace Officer Grievance Arbitration Roster]]. The project's at-issue record pairs those two facts.[^2] ## Who [[Susan Gaertner]] was [[Ramsey County Attorney]] from 1995 to 2011, according to the dossier.[^1] The dossier states that she brought the 2008 charges under the statute. It also states that, as of its date (September 2, 2026), she serves on Minnesota's [[Peace Officer Grievance Arbitration Roster]], the state roster of arbitrators who hear peace officer grievances.[^1][^3] The dossier refers to the eight defendants collectively as the "RNC 8" and does not name them individually.[^3] ## What According to the dossier, Gaertner charged eight activists before the 2008 Republican National Convention with "conspiracy to commit riot in furtherance of terrorism" under Minnesota's 2002 PATRIOT Act.[^1] The dossier states that the terrorism enhancements were later dropped and that Gaertner described the decision as made "purely as a matter of trial strategy."[^1][^2] No court filing is among the sources for this entry. The charge wording and the quotation rest on the dossier and have not been checked against the court record.[^1] ## When The statute dates to 2002.[^2] The charges were brought before the 2008 Republican National Convention.[^1] The dossier dates the withdrawal of the terrorism enhancements to a hearing on May 26, 2009. The at-issue record gives the date as May 2009.[^1][^2] ## In the at-issue record One at-issue pair in the project's record names the statute. It sets the 2008 terrorism-enhanced charges and their May 2009 withdrawal beside Gaertner's later place on the [[Peace Officer Grievance Arbitration Roster]].[^2] The dossier connects the pair to an earlier Anoka County review. That review logged arbitration-driven reinstatement of peace officers as the largest control gap it found, with "no live federal instrument reaching it."[^3] The dossier states that the Ramsey County material does not close that gap. It states that the material instead documents a personnel link between the charging office and the arbitration roster.[^3] The pair cites a March 2025 White House presidential action on eliminating information silos as its anchor. The sources assembled here do not connect that document to the Minnesota statute.[^4] The pair documents a sequence of offices held. It does not establish unlawful conduct, and the record reviewed here contains no finding of any.[^2][^3] ## Notes [^1]: *Warren E. Burger Apex Dossier* (2026-09-02), §VII (validated dossier section) — Gaertner's 1995–2011 tenure as Ramsey County Attorney; the 2008 charges under Minnesota's 2002 PATRIOT Act; the withdrawal of terrorism enhancements at a May 26, 2009 hearing; the quoted phrase "purely as a matter of trial strategy"; her service on the Peace Officer Grievance Arbitration Roster. No primary URL in the pack; the underlying court record was not retrieved. [^2]: Project at-issue record, pair AI-Ramsey-073 (Ramsey package; drawn from the *Warren E. Burger Apex Dossier* §VII, §X) — the 2002 statute; the 2008 RNC charges; the dropping of the terrorism enhancements in May 2009; Gaertner's place on the arbitration roster. [^3]: *Warren E. Burger Apex Dossier* (2026-09-02), §X (validated dossier section) — the RNC 8; the Anoka finding that arbitration-driven reinstatement was the largest control gap with no live federal instrument reaching it; the statement that the Ramsey file supplies a personnel link but does not close the gap. No primary URL in the pack. [^4]: The White House, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025) — the anchor document cited by at-issue pair AI-Ramsey-073. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/