The Minnesota state senator and Air Force veteran facing theft charges has been stripped of his committee assignments.
On Sunday morning, Minnesota Senator Majority Leader Erin Murphy announced that Democrat Nicole Mitchell, 49, “will be relieved of her committee assignments and removed from caucus meetings.”
Mitchell, who also worked as a meteorologist, allegedly broke into her stepmother’s home on April 22 in an attempt to recover her late father’s possessions.
She was charged with one count of first-degree robbery, a felony, and was released on the condition that she not contact her stepmother. Mitchell has denied breaking into the house and ignoring calls for her resignation.
Murphy called Mitchell’s situation “tragic” and revealed that the case has been referred to the Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct.
Minnesota State Senator Nicole Mitchell, 49, was stripped of her committee assignments Sunday morning after being charged with one count of first-degree robbery, a felony.
Minnesota Senator Majority Leader Erin Murphy called Mitchell’s situation “tragic” and revealed that the case has been referred to the Senate Ethical Conduct Subcommittee.
Mitchell allegedly broke into his stepmother’s home on April 22 in an attempt to recover his late father’s possessions.
The day after the alleged robbery, state lawmakers called for Mitchell to resign.
“This behavior is unbecoming of a member of the Legislature and he needs to resign from the Senate immediately,” Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson said in a statement Tuesday.
Mitchel said that at the time of the alleged incident he was trying to recover some items that belonged to his late father, Rod, who passed away in March 2023.
The suspect accused 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.
On Wednesday, a judge placed Mitchell with a restraining order while he appeared in court via Zoom.
Police said Mitchell admitted to leaving his Woodbury home at 1 a.m. while planning to drive to Detroit Lakes, where his late father lived with his stepmother.
She told authorities she went there to retrieve a flannel shirt, ashes, photographs and other sentimental items.
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’s sure there will be “internal discussions” among Senate Democrats about his future, but 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.”
Nicole Mitchell photographed with her father, Rod, in a photo posted to Facebook in 2011. Rod Mitchell passed away in March 2023.
She told authorities she went to her late father’s home, which he shared with her stepmother, to retrieve a flannel shirt, ashes, photographs and other sentimental items. (pictured: Mitchell speaking on the Senate floor)
Mitchell, who was also a radio and television meteorologist, denied the charges but did not explain why she entered the house without permission in the middle of the night.
But in a Facebook post, Mitchell later 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.
His father 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.
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, according to the complaint.
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 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 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.
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 earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and worked for a television station in Duluth as an assignment manager. (pictured: Mitchell casting an early vote in September 2022)
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.
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.
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.
Mitchell’s next court appearance is scheduled for June 10.