By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A June 10 court appearance is scheduled in the bizarre saga of Minnesota DFL State Sen. Nicole Mitchell, who was arrested for the alleged April 22 burglary at her step-mother’s home and has now been charged with first-degree burglary, according to the Daily Mail.
The incident has already had serious repercussions, with Mitchell reportedly being stripped of committee assignments, and a major gun rights organization calling for her immediate resignation. Bryan Strawser, chair of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus (MGOC) said in a statement to the press, “Senator Mitchell must immediately resign her position in the Minnesota Senate. If she will not resign, the Minnesota Senate must take action to expel her from the body.”
Mitchell, a DFL from Woodbury, was reportedly arrested inside the Detroit Lake home of her step-mother. Published reports say she had gone to the home to retrieve her late father’s ashes, a flannel shirt, photographs and other items of sentimental value. Apparently her relationship with the step-mother has been “fractured,” according to one report. Mitchell’s dad died in March 2023.
While Mitchell reportedly said she was at the residence to check on her step-mother’s condition, the incident occurred at approximately 4:45 a.m., and she was dressed all in black.
Mitchell is a gun control proponent who has been endorsed by Moms Demand Action, a Michael Bloomberg-backed gun prohibition lobbying group. According to WPEC News, Sen. Mitchell has worked with the Moms group in the past “to promote limitations on gun ownership.” In her response to a Ballotpedia candidate survey in 2022, she said this was one of her goals while in office: “I will work to protect the health and safety of Minnesotans. This means ensuring affordable and accessible healthcare, making sure that women retain the freedom to make their own reproductive decisions, and helping to keep our communities safe from gun violence.”
The New York Post reported that Mitchell had “helped introduce a bill calling for criminal penalties for those who fail to meet safe firearm storage standards.”
There is already speculation Mitchell’s situation could stop Minnesota’s adoption of additional gun controls. As noted by MPR News, if she is expelled it would create a 33-33 tie in the State Senate, creating a situation where DFL priorities “like gun restrictions…could stall.”
An Air Force veteran and meteorologist, Sen. Mitchell took office in 2023. Before that, according to the Daily Mail, she worked as a meteorologist in Rapid City, S.D., South Bend, Ind., and Tulsa, Okla..
