Bodycam footage showing the arrest of Minnesota State Sen. Nicole Mitchell allegedly burglarizing her stepmother’s home was released just after her trial began this week.
Mitchell, a Democrat, is accused of breaking into her stepmother Carol’s home to steal her deceased father’s belongings and ashes. The lawmaker’s felony burglary trial began on Monday with the prosecution and defense offering drastically different interpretations of her actions back in April 2024.
Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald told the jury that “thise case will be about what the defendant did, what she admitted to, and what you will see and hear with your own eyes and ears,” according to MPR News.
Mitchell’s defense, led by attorney Bruce Ringstrom Jr., insisted that Mitchell was only acting out of concern for her elderly stepmother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s. “Nobody should be convicted of burglary because what they did makes you feel icky,” he argued.
The attorney claimed his client broke into the home through the basement because Carol had taken to barricading her doors.
Police apprehended Mitchell after Carol called 911 to report the intrusion. She did not know who the intruder was at the time and referred to Mitchell as a man.
The footage shows the moment when officers enter the home and order Mitchell to “get on the ground.” The lawmaker was dressed in all black and was wearing a black beanie at the scene. “I was just trying to get a couple of my dad’s things because you wouldn’t talk to me anymore,” Mitchell told Carol during her arrest.
Later, while an officer read Mitchell her Miranda rights, she said, "I know I did a bad thing."
The incident elicited immediate backlash, with Minnesota state Senate Republicans filing an ethics complaint and calling for her to step down. “This behavior is unbecoming of a member of the Legislature and she needs to resign from the Senate immediately,” said Minority Leader Mark Johnson.
However, Mitchel denies criminal intent. She claims the incident was merely a misunderstanding resulting from family tension and medical concerns. She wrote a Facebook post shortly after her arrest acknowledging that she “entered a home I have come and gone from countless times in the past 20 years, where my son even once had his own room.”
“Unfortunately, I startled this close relative, exacerbating paranoia, and I was accused of stealing, which I absolutely deny,” she wrote.
So far, Mitchell has resisted calls for her resignation.
Ringstrom said in court that his client was “extremely disappointed that the complaint lacks the complete information of the incident including important context.”
Carol told law enforcement that she had already sent some of her late husband’s ashes to Mitchell. However, the lawmaker’s attorney claims this is “not totally accurate.”