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Minnesota state Senator Justin Eichorn resigned from jail on Thursday, after being arrested earlier this week on charges of arranging to solicit a minor for prostitution.
The MAGA Republican was arrested on Monday after being caught in a sting operation orchestrated by Bloomington Police. According to law enforcement in the Minneapolis suburb, Eichorn attempted to orchestrate a meeting with what he thought was a 17-year-old girl, but what really a detective, and was arrested “without incident” when he arrived at the proposed location.
Coverage of Eichorn’s arrest took on an added level of intensity given that hours before his arrest, the state senator co-sponsored a bill that would make “Trump Derangement Syndrome” an officially recognized mental illness in the state of Minnesota.
“‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ means the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal persons that is in reaction to the policies and presidencies of President Donald J. Trump,” the proposed legislation read. “Symptoms may include Trump-induced general hysteria, which produces an inability to distinguish between legitimate policy differences and signs of psychic pathology in President Donald J. Trump’s behavior.”
Trump Derangement Syndrome may not be a real mental illness — no matter how much Republicans wish it was — but what is a real, codified crime is attempting to pay an underage teenager for sex.
“Governor Walz, I am resigning my seat in the Minnesota Senate for District Six, effective immediately. I must focus on personal matters at this time. It has been an honor to serve in the Minnesota Senate,” Eichorn wrote in his resignation.
In the criminal complaint against Eichorn, an FBI agent assigned to the Minneapolis Division and the Minnesota Child Exploitation Task Force wrote that in conversations with the undercover detective, Eichorn requested “a naught pic” of what he believed to be a teenage girl, asking her to send him something with a “lot less clothes,” and discussed the age of consent with the undercover detective after soliciting the price of various sexual acts.
“During an inventory search of [Eichorn’s] vehicle, police located — amongst other things — two Apple iPhones, an unopened Trojan brand condom in the driver side door, $105 cash in the driver side door handle, and $24 cash in the center console,” the complaint reads.
Last year, the Bloomington Police Department described the suburb as an “Orange Jumpsuit District” as opposed to a Red Light District in a Youtube video series on local law enforcement.
“As a 40-year-old man, if you come to the Orange Jumpsuit District looking to have sex with someone’s child, you can expect that we are going to lock you up,” Hodges said in a statement after Eichorn’s arrest. “I have always advocated stiffer penalties for these types of offenses […] We need our state legislature to take this case and this type of conduct more seriously.”
Lawmakers in Minnesota were decisive in their calls for Eichorn’s resignation. Minnesota Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson (R-East Grand Forks) told the Star Tribune on Thursday that “there is a line in the sand […] if you’re accused with a felony, I think that’s serious enough — our law has distinguished that as a very serious crime. This clearly is a very serious crime, and so we are going to do the right thing as a caucus and we move forward in a very decisive way.”
On Wednesday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, told reporters that he believed Eichorn should resign. “When you’re in a position of elected office, the bar is higher for you,” Walz said.
