A Minnesota Democratic state senator was arrested on Monday over an alleged burglary potentially compromising Democrat control of the state Senate.
Police arrested 49-year-old Sen. Nicole Mitchell on burglary charges after they were called to a home after a report of “active burglary,” according to the Detroit Lakes Police Department. Police arrested Mitchell at the home in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, at around 4:45 a.m. and she was later charged with first-degree burglary.
Mitchell, first elected to office in 2022, was held in Becker County Jail after the arrest. The Democrat was released on her own recognizance on Tuesday after a court appearance before District Judge Gretchen Thilmony, according to the Detroit Lakes Tribune.
The home Mitchell was arrested in belongs to her stepmother, who now has a restraining order against her.
The criminal complaint against Mitchell alleges that she was wearing all black and hiding in the basement of her stepmother’s home when police officers arrested her. “I was just trying to get a couple of my dad’s things because you wouldn’t talk to me anymore,” Mitchell said to her stepmother, according to the complaint, CBS News reported.
The items she is accused of attempting to nab include pictures, a flannel shirt, and some ashes. “Clearly I’m not good at this,” Mitchell told police, according to the complaint. “I know I did something bad.”
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Democrats in Minnesota have just a one seat majority in the state Senate. A spokesman for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Senate caucus told CBS it was “aware of the situation” involving Mitchell.
Responding to news of the arrest, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy said that the allegations against Mitchell were “upsetting.”
“The behavior alleged is far outside the character she has established in the Senate and in her distinguished career in the military,” she said. “We believe in due process, and Senator Mitchell has the right to a full defense of her case in court.”
Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson called on Mitchell to resign. “The public expects Legislators to meet a high standard of conduct,” he said. “As information comes out, we expect the consequences to meet the actions, both in the court of law, and in her role at the legislature.”