By Colton Baldus\People’s World
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.—The Trump administration and MAGA are pulling out all the stops in their attacks on Minnesota—the Nick Shirley daycare fraud “investigation,” a pause on federal child care funding, the “largest ever” ICE enforcement effort, and unprecedented racist attacks on Somali immigrants. They’re all part of a continued effort by the right to push the deportation agenda in a Democratic-governed state, defund programs that working people rely on, and flip Minnesota to the Republican column in the 2026 midterm elections.
Amid ongoing probes of fraud related to abuse of public funds in the state, on the day after Christmas, right-wing influencer Nick Shirley posted a video on YouTube called “I Investigated Minnesota’s Billion Dollar Fraud Scandal.” In the vigilante-style video, he alleges that several Somali-run daycare centers are not providing a service but receiving funding anyway from the government. Shirley claims that the centers are empty, with no children present.
In the video, he can be seen going to several different childcare establishments with as many as eight people accompanying him, some of whom were masked, causing reasonable concerns that they may be ICE). The group proceeds to harass employees to the point where Shirley is kicked out of several buildings.
His “investigation” video was debunked four days later by local news organization WCCO…READ MORE
