Prosecutors filed an amended criminal complaint Monday charging Minnesota Sen. Nicole Mitchell with a second felony.
Mitchell, a first-term Democrat from Woodbury, was initially charged with first-degree burglary last April after she allegedly broke into her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home before dawn.
Now, prosecutors have added a second felony charge of possessing burglary or theft tools. The amended complaint says police officers discovered a crowbar in the window well where Mitchell allegedly broke in. Mitchell was dressed in all black and in possession of a flashlight with a black sock covering the light, according to the complaint.
The amended complaint also provides new details on comments Mitchell reportedly made during the incident.
“My God my military retirement. Shoot,” she said after being placed under arrest, according to the complaint.
“I have never done anything like this. You are going to find out I am a military commander for God’s sake,” she added, the complaint says.
Mitchell reportedly told police that she was attempting to retrieve some of her late father’s belongings and that her stepmother wasn’t talking to her.
After being read her rights, Mitchell reportedly responded: “I’m just hoping, um, this mistake won’t completely f– up my life.”
While in the back seat of a squad car, Mitchell allegedly told an officer that she had “literally just gotten into the house” and “hadn’t had time to do anything.”
“Clearly I’m not good at this,” the complaint has her saying.
The complaint says police observed “faint pry marks” on the window where they believe Mitchell entered the home.
“The circus surrounding the Senate needs to stop,” Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said in a statement Monday.
“We have real business to attend to: balancing a budget, addressing fraud, and putting Minnesotans First. Senate Democrats need to demonstrate that they are serious about solving problems in a bipartisan manner and do the right thing: end the sideshow and let the voters pick a new senator.”
Mitchell was scheduled to go on trial starting in January, but a judge agreed to postpone the trial until after the legislative session. Her trial is now scheduled to begin June 16.
Mitchell pleaded not guilty to the burglary charge last August and has resisted calls to resign. She survived a motion to expel her from the Minnesota Senate last month.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
