I’m not here to litigate the case. Nicole Mitchell’s trial took place last week, and on Friday, a Becker County jury found her guilty of first-degree burglary and felony possession of burglary tools.
I’m here to lament the partisanship that prevented good, kind people from admitting that one of their own screwed up, that one of their own inflicted emotional scars on a vulnerable, elderly woman. The older Mitchell testified in court that she moved into a high-security building until she could have a security system installed in her home.
“I didn’t dare stay there,” she testified.
In 2024, Democratic legislative leaders, bathing in hypocrisy, defended Sen. Mitchell during the session; they needed her vote in the narrowly divided Senate. It wasn’t until after the session that they urged her to resign, which she chose not to do. Even now, following her conviction, she is hanging onto the remnants of power, saying she will resign within two weeks.
Defending their own isn’t solely a Democratic problem. Republicans do the same. So does MAGA. It’s a problem whenever our loyalties outweigh our sense of justice. For months, state Republicans have been crowing about how they ousted Eichorn while Democrats let Mitchell stay in office. And yes, good job, GOP! You did well. But what about the president pardoning the Jan. 6 protesters, including those who attacked police officers, vandalized the U.S. Capitol, and tried to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power?
We will never heal our rifts until we admit our own faults.