[Shocking footage at the end]
In a scandal that has gripped Minnesota’s political scene, Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party state Senator Nicole Mitchell is standing trial on serious felony charges, including first-degree burglary and possession of burglary or theft tools.
The allegations stem from an incident on April 22, 2024, when Mitchell was arrested after allegedly breaking into her stepmother’s home in Detroit Lakes in the early morning hours.
As the trial unfolds, body camera footage from police officers, played in court on Wednesday, has offered the public a firsthand glimpse into the arrest of a sitting state senator caught in an awkward and troubling situation.
Mitchell, who was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2022, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. She claims her actions were motivated by personal family matters rather than criminal intent.
According to Mitchell, she went to the home of her stepmother, Carol Mitchell, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, with the intention of retrieving sentimental items belonging to her late father — including ashes, photographs, clothing, and keepsakes — items she alleges her stepmother had refused to return.
Yet police reports, along with the recently released bodycam footage, paint a far different picture. Responding officers discovered Mitchell inside the home’s basement around 4:45 a.m.
Dressed entirely in black, she was found with a flashlight covered by a black sock — an apparent attempt to conceal the light — and a black backpack lodged in a window.
That backpack contained two laptops, a cellphone, her driver’s license, Senate identification badge, and various Tupperware items. Officers concluded the evidence pointed not to a spontaneous act of grief, but rather a premeditated and calculated break-in.
In the bodycam footage, Mitchell can be seen lying face-down on the basement floor as officers handcuffed her. From the back of the police cruiser, Mitchell is heard explaining to officers, “I was just trying to get some of my dad’s things because she wouldn’t talk to me anymore.” She later added, with a sense of resignation, “Clearly, I’m not good at this.”
Prosecutors have seized on Mitchell’s behavior and the circumstances of the alleged crime to argue that she had carefully planned the intrusion. They contend that her decision to park some distance away from the home was part of an orchestrated effort to avoid detection.
The timing of the break-in — in the dead of night — coupled with her choice of attire and the concealment of the flashlight, further supports the prosecution’s narrative of premeditation.
Carol Mitchell, the senator’s stepmother and the homeowner, provided compelling testimony during the trial, expressing profound feelings of violation and betrayal. “I felt extremely violated by what she did,” Carol stated, visibly shaken as she recalled the incident.
When officers arrived, Carol Mitchell identified Nicole as her stepdaughter and, with an air of disbelief, informed them, “She’s also a Minnesota senator.”
One officer, caught on camera, responded with surprise, “She’s a senator?” to which Carol replied, “Yes, well was… I meant after this,” hinting at the potential consequences of Nicole Mitchell’s arrest on her political career.
Mitchell’s defense, however, continues to argue that her actions stemmed not from criminal intent, but from an emotional and deeply personal situation exacerbated by family estrangement and the mental health decline of her stepmother.
They maintain that Mitchell was simply trying to recover treasured items left behind by her late father, and that her stepmother’s refusal to communicate left her with no other option.
The legal proceedings come at a particularly fraught moment for Minnesota politics, which has been rocked by a series of violent and unsettling incidents in recent months.
Just weeks before Mitchell’s trial began, the state was stunned by the tragic shootings of two prominent Democratic lawmakers and their spouses, a horrifying event that has further destabilized the political landscape.
State Senator John Hoffman and former State House Speaker Melissa Hortman were both targeted in separate but seemingly coordinated attacks carried out by a man impersonating a police officer.
In Champlin, Senator Hoffman and his spouse were shot in their home but survived. In Brooklyn Park, however, the violence turned fatal. Melissa Hortman and her spouse were both killed during a home invasion orchestrated by Vance Boelter, the alleged assailant now in custody.
Authorities have confirmed that Boelter engaged in a violent shootout with Brooklyn Park police officers before storming Hortman’s home and committing the murders.
Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, Joseph Thompson, described the chilling sequence of events. Officers arriving on the scene observed Boelter’s black SUV with flashing emergency lights parked in the driveway.
As they approached, Boelter, positioned just feet from the front door, drew his firearm and opened fire on the officers before making his way inside.
“The details of Boelter’s crime are truly chilling,” Thompson said during a press conference. “It is no exaggeration to say that his crimes are the stuff of nightmares.”
The political assassinations stunned the state and the nation, prompting Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to denounce the attacks as “an act of targeted political violence.”
Walz added, “Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint in the state of Minnesota.”
The twin specters of political violence and high-profile criminal allegations against elected officials have left Minnesota reeling. While the shootings involving Boelter were politically motivated and born out of extremism, Mitchell’s case is of a more personal, if still shocking, nature.
Yet both incidents contribute to a narrative of deepening instability within the state’s political sphere, raising uncomfortable questions about the personal lives, security, and integrity of those who hold public office.
For Mitchell, the timing of her trial amidst this broader context only intensifies public scrutiny. Her defense’s portrayal of her as a grieving daughter trying to reclaim family memories is being weighed against the stark imagery of her arrest — clad in black, creeping through a dark basement with a concealed flashlight.
The presence of her Senate ID among the items in her backpack lends a surreal element to the proceedings: a state senator, known for crafting laws, now accused of violating them in a profoundly personal and illegal way.
Legal analysts suggest that the case could go either way, hinging on whether the jury believes Mitchell’s emotional motivations mitigate the criminal elements of her actions.
The charge of first-degree burglary, however, is severe and carries the potential for significant prison time if she is convicted. The possession of burglary tools charge adds another layer of complexity, especially given the flashlight wrapped in a sock — a method often associated with attempts to obscure light during covert entries.
Political ramifications also loom large. Regardless of the trial’s outcome, Mitchell’s political future appears uncertain. Even an acquittal may not fully rehabilitate her public image, especially given the damning visuals captured on police bodycam.
Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party faces the difficult task of distancing itself from the scandal while navigating the broader implications of recent violence and disorder within its ranks.
As the trial progresses, Minnesotans and political observers nationwide are left to ponder the fragile boundaries between private grief, public duty, and criminal accountability.
Nicole Mitchell’s story is a cautionary tale of how personal loss, familial disputes, and the pressures of public life can collide in tragic and legally perilous ways.
Whether the jury sees her as a grieving daughter or a calculating intruder remains to be seen, but one fact is indisputable: Minnesota’s political landscape will bear the scars of these events for years to come.
The footage:
