ANALYSIS: Somali Fraud in Minnesota? An Obvious Partisan Talking Point
A long-term, blanketed demonizing of an immigrant community by a media ecosphere to stoke anger among the Republican base at the "other" & at the corrupt Democratic politicians (it's all a uniparty!)
I truly despise duopoly politics. The reality is, that while both sides play for the same owners, they are also fighting each other for power. Team sports does exist in politics, especially in the 24 hour political news world. Their goal is to push propaganda on behalf of advertisers and owners to control the focus and content of the news cycle daily. When one “side” screeches about corruption coming from the “other side,” while ignoring what’s happening in their own house, almost every time, it’s a narrative distraction.
Simply put, my read of the TL:DR on “Somali Daycare FRAUD” story is that it’s a Republican-led (and Israel-led) narrative rage bait thing. There may actually be some fraud here, but this is more part of a systemic targeting and persecution of Somalis, more than 50% of whom are American citizens. Funny, but the people criticizing these daycare centers never seem to mention that. I am not 100% sure that what they’re saying is even untrue, but the way it’s being presented is completely dishonest, intended to frame a narrative pandering to a specific group of people, which will be used to gaslight the targets for their predictable defensive, angry reactions.
It’s multi-faceted, here are just some of the obvious goals, and who benefits:
smearing Ilhan Omar benefits Republicans and her 2026 challenger
undermining Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s reelection possibility, which also sets up Republicans’ push to replace him with Mike Lindell in the 2026 election
“othering” brown people, which “conservative” outlets seem to do often
distracting from the rampant corruption in Ukraine, Israel and in U.S. military spending, which both parties have funded and would like you to not notice or be upset about
demonizing Somalia on behalf of Israel, because they (like every other country) are opposed to Somaliland being created to accept the Palestinians
turning Americans against Somalia, which benefits Israel in their recognition of Somaliland as a vehicle to “export” as many as 1.5M Palestinians
building a narrative convincing a group of people that Nick Shirley is a credible investigative journalist, which benefits the people backing him and those who platform him
There are lots of flashpoints coming together, all focused a total US population of at most 250k people — out of 360 MILLION. It’s kind of a perfect storm of pro-Israel, “conservative” narratives. It’s also playing into a misdirect — “look over here” — as the Pentagon announced it had lost track of BILLIONS in weapons sent to Israel.
What Happened Here?
The other day, “independent journalist” Nick Shirley made national news by publishing a report claiming to expose MASSIVE fraud in Minnesota, specifically among day care centers in Minneapolis run by Somalis. This was shared by JD Vance and other Republicans with big platforms.
The video starts with Nick having a conversation with his (neighbor?) who says that he’s been investigating this for years and has the receipts. So this is really the neighbor’s investigation, which Nick is really using his platform to amplify and now join in on. The neighbor holds up a stack of paper that he claims is info about daycare facilities, some of which get $1M+ in federal money annually, but that he’s personally never seen a child go in or out — definitely not even close to the number of children these facilities allegedly are paid to care for — and he has offices right next door.
Shirley says that the windows are reportedly blacked out at every facility so nobody can see inside, the neighbor claims there are a few adult men hanging around outside sometimes, but definitely not an active daycare center.
The two of them then get in a car together and drive from registered center to registered center, trying to sign up Nick’s “son” on the spot for daycare at the Somali-owned and run facilities. The rationale is that the centers have been receiving federal money, according to the neighbor, so asking for a tour is a way in to get a look around. There was no visible outdoor play areas for children at any of the facilities they visited, but they only saw, and showed us, the fronts of the buildings. There could possibly have been an area in the back or on the side.
The few people who would engage with the two of them at all treat them as bad faith, hostile actors, which is pretty accurate.
https://x.com/i/trending/2005596674417107235?s=20
Who exactly is Nick Shirley? Is he just some rando “independent journalist” who came out of nowhere? Possible, but highly unlikely, considering he’s celebrating Christmas in the White House. More on him later.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRxcbErEsFm/
How Did Nick Shirley Hear About This?
Here’s a not-too-serious video explainer that tries to understand where the narrative came from.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DS3ZW5UDTEL/
The Experience of a Local
I subscribe to the theory that when in doubt, ask someone who lives there. I luckily happen to have a contact who lives in the area that says he lives next door to where some of the Healthcare LLCs park their vehicles (they are actually transport companies that shuttle people to doctors appointments). He said they’re in use constantly.
“They [the daycare centers] probably only watch Somali kids. Pretty common practice among minority groups. Just FYI, that daycare is about 4 or 5 blocks to where all the high rises that the Somalis live in are.
The fact that he is trying to force his way into a daycare shows what a disgusting fuck he is. WTF is wrong with people? if you take that address and stick it into a search engine the MN DHS record should pop up. This place has a shit ton of violations involving children, so yea the “no children” narrative crashed and burned. As far as how much government money they got, I have no idea, nor do I care. They were actually cited once for not having enough staff on site for the amount of children LOL.”
If Shirley really wanted to take a tour of a facility, most parents call first and make an appointment in advance. They don’t show up with a camera crew and a “boomer” grandpa asking questions about “where all the kids are.”
Narrative Control - Corporate Outlets Pushing Identical Talking Points and Language - RED FLAG
The entire “Minnesota child care fraud” narrative has shown itself to be a “right wing” talking point. Look at where the coverage initiated, and who is running with it:
FOX Personalities Posting to Their Channels
Coordinated messaging? Looks like somebody else noticed…
https://x.com/guru_merc/status/2006104012001595621?s=46&t=l_iy3TIb0ynzeH0gjwLxAA
Governor Lindell? Another Motivation Behind the Narrative
Did you know that Mike Lindell (yes, the MyPillow guy), is running for governor of Minnesota, with support from President Trump?
Lindell also has his own media network — complete with White House credentials. Media Bias Fact Check rates the org at “Extreme Right” ideology and “Very Low” Factual Reporting.
All of these attacks on Tim Walz and Democrats align with a narrative of taking down an incumbent opponent running for reelection who had his profile elevated nationally last year as a VP candidate.
Why Are Republicans Targeting Somalis? To Distract from How Much They Fund Israel?
All this focus on “Somali run preschools” while we are actively funding Israel to the level we do feels like a desperate attempt at a distraction. We are still sending BILLIONS to Israel to steal Gaza & the resources underneath it, to steal the West Bank, to murder or displace (again) the remaining Palestinians who’ve already survived 26 months of genocide — oh, and also spend millions to propagandize Americans that it’s somehow morally necessary. This whole goose chase feels very much like Zionist-led whataboutism.
There has been a coordinated effort by Republicans, Israel Supporters and corporate Democrats to demonize and target the Somali community across this country.
It’s weird, because the Somali community is TINY in the US.
Like, a TOTAL between of 164,000 and 260,000 people (depending on which source you use) out of a population of 360 MILLION, depending on the source.
There are more than 100x as many MILLIONARES in this country (24 million) than there are Somalis.
Minneapolis and St. Paul have the 2nd and 3rd largest Somali communities in the USA, behind Columbus, OH - where ICE has descended in the past month. “The largest population is in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, home to about 84,000 residents, most of whom are American citizens.” - PBS/AP, December 3.
What’s Behind the Narratives?
Some Republicans want to first expel Somali immigrant Ilhan Omar from Congress, then deport her and her entire family - for a multitude of stated reasons.
It’s part of a systemic targeting of any community that aligns with the Palestinian people, including the Somalis.
Shouldn’t We Start With Bigger Line Items?
If the Republicans, and their proxies, are really looking for BIG corruption, why not look at the failed Pentagon audits? Congress just passed a $900B Defense Authorization bill — for FY2026 — which, likely, includes a LOT more than $110M, or $9B, or even $24B, in “fraud” built in somewhere, (allegedly) considering the Department of War failed yet another audit. Don’t forget that they have to spend (waste) as much as $2B to change the Department’s name from the Department of Defense to the Department of War.
Another place to possibly find fraud — how much has Congress approved to Ukraine over the past 3 years? $182 BILLION, per USAfacts.com - $83.4 Billion of which has already been distributed as of May 2025. Republicans seem to be stepping over all that blatant corruption to target a MINISCULE community, more than half of which are US Citizens (but you’d never know that to watch their “reports”)
We could also audit the money and weapons we’ve sent to Israel, but that would also likely prove to be difficult. Love how a Ukrainian site is trying to deflect here.
Not Just Minnesota, But Columbus, OH - Very Specific Targeting
ICE has been tear-assing through Columbus too. They were arresting people the Friday before Christmas in the pickup lines at school.
https://substack.com/@dissentinbloom/note/c-190280362?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=539iu
I read a Dissent in Bloom article recently on IndieNewsNow LIVE about this raid.
ICE Goes Into Schools in Columbus, OH?
https://www.indiemediatoday.com/p/ice-goes-into-schools-in-columbus-oh-indienewsnow-122325?r=539iu
Original article: ICE Targets School Zones in Columbus, Families Detained: Dissent in Bloom Dissent in Bloom
https://dissentinbloom.substack.com/p/ice-targets-school-zones-in-columbus
Looking Into the Source of this “Investigation”: Nick Shirley
Who is Nick Shirley? Is he just some rando who came out of nowhere? Possible, but highly unlikely.
Even MSN republished a puff piece on him by “Times Now Digital” (WHO?!?) on 12/27 - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/news/content/ar-AA1T5DZU. When MSN is picking it up, it’s a narrative. They’ve run with Dominic Michael Tripi talking points too. It’s pushed out to all Windows machines through their news widget as well.
October 27, 2025 - Appearance on Laura Ingraham on FOX News about ANTIFA Camps in Portland:
October, 2025 - Chicago ICE Raid bootlicking cops:
June 2025 - here he is spreading right wing propaganda about ICE raids in LA for Laura Ingraham on FOX News - demonizing ICE protesters in LA who mistook him for a cop (because he’s a fucking bootlicker who is clearly on the cops’ side):
January, 2025 - trolling natives in Greenland:
June 2024 - at the border:
Nick Shirley has been doing this type of “reporting” for more than 2 years - poking at indigenous people and immigrants on behalf of the right wing to try to portray them as criminals and definitely not equal to American citizens, then presenting himself as “just asking questions.”
I’ve also noticed that “shreds” is a word being pushed across the right wing mediasphere to describe the latest Shirley vs Tim Walz challenge. Language that is mirrored across platforms and shows like that is NOT organic.
Are We Seeing The Elevation of Another MAMMie?
He may not be on FOX News staff, but Shirley is a regular favorite pundit of FOX’s, notably Laura Ingraham, as an “independent journalist” — which gives them a level of disconnect from his reporting, even though it is clearly in service of their audience: demonizing “the left”, “antifa” & immigrants - while claiming that he is exposing peoples’ partisan biases. This is similar to how Breaking Points used James Li for years as an “independent” journalist unaligned. That would put him as a member of the “Mainstream Alternative Media” (or MAM - watch the explainer with David Icke and Derrick Broze).
Why did his video go viral? This article from MPR helps try to understand
Is Nick Shirley pro-Israel? Targeting the Somali community would certainly align with that.
He traveled to Israel and published this video in February of his conversations with Israelis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfzZcFquzl8
“I met with the last mayor of Gaza in Israel to visit the Israel-Gaza Border to see it for myself and see what is happening” The man he spoke with accused ISIS of being in control of Gaza (ISIS is friendly to Israel).
Not so fast… “Nick Shirley put out a video earlier this year from Israel where he interviews someone he calls the “last mayor of Gaza.” That’s not accurate. Former IDF Col Grisha Yakubovich was not an elected Palestinian official. He was an Israeli military administrator during Israel’s occupation of Gaza in the early 1990s.
That distinction matters. Calling a former occupying military officer “the mayor” already frames the story from one side and signals whose perspective is being centered.
The questioning wasn’t neutral either. Using language about Hamas like “r*pe and murdering babies” repeats wartime talking points instead of doing real reporting. It leaves no room to examine how extremist groups form, what drives radicalization, or how decades of occupation shape the reality on the ground.
This isn’t investigative journalism. It’s pro-Israel advocacy packaged as “just asking questions.” Journalism is supposed to challenge power, provide context, and include the voices of the people most affected. Ride-alongs with military figures, without balance or pushback, don’t do that.” - Mercado MediaMy speculation is that he likely wouldn’t be invited regularly on FOX if he was anti-Israel.
In 2025, FOX News has made a successful and concerted effort to “woo” Jewish viewers in liberal cities.
is he aligned with Turning Point USA?
Not sure, but Turning Point Action is now conveniently on board with the Minnesota corruption story
Has he been supported by Steve Bannon?
Check. He’s pushing Bannon’s anti-immigrant, demonizing “ANTIFA” agenda
Benny Johnson, Trump propagandist #1, is totally on board with the narrative
These are the kinds of outlets celebrating Shirley for his “watchdog” journalism (that’s completely partisan)
Who is PJ Media? Part of a large network of right wing propagandists: “Townhall Media, an affiliate of Salem Media Group, is a political publisher at the forefront of national discussion with commentary and analysis from a right-of-center perspective. Our unique collection of digital properties includes Townhall, Hot Air, RedState, Twitchy, PJ Media, Bearing Arms, and Townhall Finance. Our content engages civic-minded citizens both within the United States and abroad. Together, the Townhall Media platforms reach more than 24 million unique visitors each month, have over 100 million monthly pageviews, and our award-winning top editors appear daily on major cable news networks.”
none of this is by accident - it seems Nick Shirley is being elevated by FOX News and other Republican-leaning pundits and podcasters as another James O’Keefe type (Project Veritas, OMG Media).
How Does Somaliland Play Into This?
We can’t dismiss the potential breakup of Somalia into 3 smaller regions (Puntland, Somaliland and Somalia) and Israel recognizing Somaliland as they intend to relocate the remaining 1.5 million Palestinians from Gaza there.
Reef Breland and Collin (Ogbonna) Radix-Carter talked about this on INN News, reading a Kit Klarenberg article predicting this - 8 MONTHS ago.
Will Somaliland Become The Next Gaza Colony?
It’s part of a Project 2025 agenda, laid out by the Heritage Foundation in the global strategic war for dominance with China
Somaliland is also where Israel intends to launch missiles against the Houthis in Yemen.
Somaliland has been a decades-long Israeli project, it turns out…
https://x.com/AngletonOrchids/status/2006074671331209224?s=20
The truth is, there is neoliberal corruption and crony capitalist corruption and both parties participate in it.
Predictions - How Does This Play Out?
My speculation, when this is all over:
we will discover that there was nowhere close to $110M in fraud (or $9B, or $24B)
nobody will go to jail, besides maybe a sacrificial lamb or two
“Somali corruption in Minnesota” will be a big distraction the Republicans can misconstrue for 2026 to run ads somehow linking this to Ilhan Omar in challenging for her seat in Congress.
this narrative will serve multiple purposes, as it will also be used as a bludgeon against Tim Walz. Why would corporate Dems like Tim Walz (who dislike Ilhan Omar almost as much as Republicans) get on board with fraud that would easily discovered? Republicans want to weaken him for the 2026 gubernatorial election, setting up Lindell as the “logical choice” - and the partisan hack media will be all too happy go along because it supports the team sports duopoly narrative with the added bonus of Trump may look upon them favorably for doing so.
Somaliland will be the place Israel tries to expel 1.5M Palestinians from Gaza to
It’s pretty clear this “gotcha” type of journalism doesn’t give people a chance to properly explain themselves. It taps into emotion and presents narrative as “just asking questions” without getting ALL the facts, intentionally.
Don’t help the narrative managers spread their fear mongering propaganda!
Stay vigilant and question everything.
Hi! I’m Indie. “Indie” is not just a person - but a persona and a project representing a fiercely independent, anti-corporate media operation. It’s the voice of a politically unaligned critic and curator who exists outside the traditional Left-Right duopoly. The mission is to seek a trustworthy alternative set of sources apart from the mainstream media (MSM) by championing and amplifying truly independent journalists and perspectives that are corporate-free.
Founder, IndieNews Network (INN)
Publisher, Indie Media Today, IndieNewsNow.com &
Producer, co-host & livestream engineer of multiple shows
Founder, the Indie Media Awards
Break free from the media focused on the duopoly and discover the news you’re not supposed to see!
Thank you to Chuck B, Dissent in Bloom, Leelee and Reef Breland and others for their contributions to this article.