Minnesota Democrat Nicole Mitchell was granted a restraining order after she made her first court appearance, via Zoom, after being arrested for allegedly breaking into her stepmother’s home in the early hours of Monday.
Mitchell, 49, a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, said she was trying to recover some items that belonged to her late father, Rod, who died in March 2023.
The suspect goes on to accuse her stepmother of no longer talking to her about her father’s possessions. In a statement, Mitchell said his stepmother suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.
The arresting officer wrote in the complaint that he heard Mitchell say to his stepmother “something like, ‘I was just trying to get a couple things from my dad because you didn’t want to talk to me anymore.'”
The complaint charges Mitchell with one count of first-degree robbery, a felony. Becker County Judge Gretchen Thilmony allowed Mitchell to be released on the condition that he not contact his stepmother.
Nicole Mitchell, 49, a Minnesota state senator and former Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel, was arrested for alleged robbery in Detroit Lakes.
Nicole Mitchell photographed with her father, Rod, in a photo posted to Facebook in 2011. Rod Mitchell passed away in March 2023.
Although Senate Republicans have called for Mitchell’s resignation, she is expected to return to her duties. Her issue comes at an awkward time for Senate Democrats, who hold just a one-seat majority with just under four weeks left in the legislative session.
Mitchell’s attorney, Bruce Ringstrom Sr., said in an interview that the dispute arose from a “fractured relationship” between the senator and her stepmother that has been exacerbated by age-related issues.
“She’s not exactly Cinderella’s evil stepmother,” Ringstrom said.
Ringstrom said he is sure there will be “internal discussions” among Senate Democrats about his future, but that he is entitled to a presumption of innocence.
He said he told her to suppress her instincts “as a journalist, meteorologist and politician,” and that she agreed to “bite her tongue and say nothing.”
But in a subsequent Facebook post, Mitchell denied stealing. However, she did not explain why she entered the house without permission in the middle of the night.
‘Like so many families, mine is dealing with the pain of watching a loved one decline due to Alzheimer’s and the associated paranoia. …This has been a true tragedy for our family and I hope it can once again be a private matter,” Mitchell wrote.
The senator wore an orange jumpsuit and appeared tense, but said little during her brief court appearance. She did not plead guilty.
Colleagues expressed surprise and highlighted his work in the Senate on veterans and climate policy, along with his previous military and television meteorology career.
The Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel was an aerial reconnaissance weather officer with the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron.
Mitchell’s father, Rod Mitchell, died in March 2023 at the age of 72, according to his obituary. He had been married to Mitchell’s stepmother for 40 years, he said.
“I know I did something wrong,” Mitchell said, quoted in the criminal complaint.
Mitchell was dressed all in black and was wearing a black hat when she was arrested, according to the complaint. The officer said he discovered a flashlight near her that was covered with a black sock, apparently modified to control the amount of light emanating from it.
Mitchell told the officer she was looking for photographs, a flannel shirt, ashes and other items, but that her stepmother had cut off all contact with her, according to the complaint.
The lawmaker acknowledged entering through a basement window that had been kept open with a black backpack, according to the complaint.
Officers found his Senate ID inside. He claimed that his stepmother had given him a laptop that he found in her backpack “a long time ago,” but the stepmother disputed this. The senator, a law graduate, also indicated that she was caught shortly after entering.
“I’m clearly not good at this,” she said.
The stepmother said in an interview that she is afraid of her stepdaughter. She also said that although most of her husband’s ashes were buried, she sent Mitchell a miniature container with some of them.
Ringstrom, however, said that account “is not totally accurate.”
Mitchell was born in Fargo and raised in Minnesota, and his family moved to Woodbury in 1986, according to his official biography.
Mitchell had been a weather forecaster since the early 2000s.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy of St. Paul called the allegations “disturbing” but indicated that Mitchell will be allowed to return to duty.
“We believe in due process and Senator Mitchell is entitled to a full defense of her case in court,” Murphy said in a statement.
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson of East Grand Forks said in a statement that he should resign. The complaint describes allegations of disruptive conduct unbecoming of a lawmaker, including extensive preparations to rob a relative’s home, he said.
Mitchell was a meteorologist with the U.S. Army, KSTP-TV, Minnesota Public Radio and The Weather Channel before being elected in 2022 from a suburban St. Paul district.
Mitchell’s next court appearance is scheduled for June 10.
Mitchell represents District 47 and 85,000 residents. His district includes the town of Woodbury outside St. Paul.
During her time in the Senate, Mitchell has worked on policies related to veterans, child protection and climate change.
She also helped introduce a bill requiring criminal penalties for those who fail to comply with safe firearm storage standards, while also co-authoring a bill proposing that people incarcerated in the state be relocated from the prisons to their last indicated address.
Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell was particularly telegenic and often presented pieces to the camera when necessary on behalf of the military.
Mitchell would fly the WC-130J Super Hercules through the eye of active hurricanes to collect weather data using aircraft, known as a team called ‘Hurricane Hunters’.
On her campaign page, Mitchell noted that for an end-of-session party in 2023 she planned to hold a fundraiser to continue working on “reproductive rights, climate change, voting rights, gun safety, trans rights and addressing hunger in Minnesota”. ‘
Mitchell was born in Fargo and raised in Minnesota, and his family moved to Woodbury in 1986, according to his official biography.
She was editor-in-chief of her high school newspaper and was elected Princess of Woodbury Days.
‘He also grew up loving the outdoors, often accompanying his father fishing and his stepfather hiking and camping in various beautiful places in Minnesota. Even after camping and hiking in various places around the world as an adult, the Boundary Waters and North Shore remain her favorite places to hike or camp,” she reads on her campaign site.
She joined the Army after high school and worked for the Air National Guard as a weather observer and then forecaster.
During her time in the military, she served as a meteorologist for the Air Force ‘Hurricane Hunters’, who fly planes into storms to gather details before they hit the United States.
He flew into Hurricanes Charley, Katrina, Wilma and Harvey.
“As a highly respected communicator, military member and scientist, Nicole is often personally requested to speak and participate in the military community,” her bio reads.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and worked for a television station in Duluth as an assignment manager. She later started doing time on television.
Mitchell worked as a television meteorologist in Rapid City, South Dakota, South Bend, Indiana, and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
He then moved to the Weather Channel before joining Al-Jazeera America and CBS. While working at the Weather Channel, he earned his law degree from Georgia State University.
The Air Force veterinarian returned to Minnesota in 2016 to start her family (her son is now 5) and worked for television and radio as a meteorologist before running for office.
Mitchell obtained her foster care license in 2018 and cared for six children full-time, including three with special needs.
“In her free time, Nicole has always believed strongly in a commitment to community service and volunteering,” her bio notes.
‘The outreach work she has done has previously included volunteering at a battered women’s shelter, with children at a homeless shelter, as a big sister to big brothers/big sisters, and as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). for abused and abandoned children. .’