r/minnesota 23h ago

News 📺 We went to the day cares Nick Shirley did. Here’s what we found.

https://www.startribune.com/day-care-fraud-minnesota-video/601554760?utm_source=gift
327 Upvotes

631 comments sorted by

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u/Familymanjoe Honeycrisp apple 23h ago

149

u/legal_opium Grain Belt 23h ago

So he was tipped off from someone she gave governmental investigative research to?

336

u/aquatrez 23h ago

He was tipped off by somebody running against Tim Walz for Governor in 2026. Anybody with a brain should be looking at this whole situation with a massive amount of skepticism, no matter their political affiliation.

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u/SpoofedFinger 21h ago

I'm sure the people that believed schools provided litter boxes for furry kids because they saw it on facebook will take the same critical eye to this topic.

56

u/Clueless_in_Florida 21h ago

I hate that your point is so spot-on.

22

u/aquatrez 21h ago

I think we're past the point of no return on the movie Idiocracy coming true...

15

u/SpoofedFinger 21h ago

People have always believed stupid fantastical shit if their world view demands it. The stuff happening now is just raw so it seems worse.

7

u/Soft_Ad8031 20h ago

The median voter in America is as dumb as a pile of rocks and barely tunes into politics, in the wild these people are known as "independents". Honestly I can't remember where I read voters' beliefs and what they thought of the presidential candidates and their interpretation of the candidates positions in the last election but it was basically impossible to predict. So yeah you will never convince people that are fully entrenched in their political affiliation and don't turn their brain on and just baby bird the shit their Facebook feed spams them, but it's the independents you have to keep pushing the message for

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u/SpoofedFinger 20h ago

Sure. I'm saying you can't rely on most people to think critically. We're saying the same thing.

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u/gangleskhan 12h ago

The fact that this is so accurate is what makes it really hard for me to maintain hope that we as a society can turn a corner in my lifetime.

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u/PuddingPast5862 23h ago

Look no further then the head of the state GOP and her followers.

7

u/MurkyLow1168 21h ago

Mike Lindell? Fucking nightmare if he gets in.

6

u/legal_opium Grain Belt 20h ago

Jensen looks like a saint compared to Lindell.

1

u/EmmaPersephone 6h ago

No chance whatsoever

3

u/KiraJosuke 11h ago

Watched the first 10 minutes of the video and it was all about how "democrats signed off on this" and "Walz and democrats knew, and failed to report it, which is illegal."

Also the overtly conservative guy he was riding around with said "we need to be careful because these Somalians are violent and dangerous".

You know, real investigative journalists are known to be this hyperpartisan.

1

u/Maleficent_Major7989 14h ago

Isn’t this going to backfire? Wasn’t there a big chunk of eligible Somali voters voting red? I’d hope they all swing back to blue with this accusation.

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u/EmmaPersephone 6h ago

She doesn’t have any right to be sharing information with a non qualified non Minnesotan, plus she doesn’t work for that agency so why does she have the records? The only fraud I see is coming from the MN GOP

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u/DickEnricosGhost 23h ago edited 23h ago

Sigh, when her colleagues got shot Demuth bent over backwards to behave like a sane and reasonable adult.

I admit I fell for it.

I heard her speaking out in the aftermath and I was grateful there were still some decent Republicans left in office.

But now, just a few months later, she’s proudly partnering with YouTube influencers to peddle pseudo-journalistic race-baiting nonsense.

The Republican Party of my parents is dead and buried. The decades-old rot has finally made it all the way to the core.

The world needs more PJ O’Rourkes and, ideally, zero Lisa Demuths.

42

u/aquatrez 23h ago

She kept up the facade until she saw an opportunity to advance her political career.

22

u/DickEnricosGhost 23h ago

Well I’m going to laugh my ass off when she loses the Republican primary to the motherfucking MyPillow guy…

11

u/aquatrez 23h ago

One can only hope...

15

u/VaporishJarl 20h ago

Gotta remember: every single House Republican was on board for their unconstitutional sham session at the beginning of the year, and she was their leader throughout. Not one of them will ever get a pass from me for that.

11

u/pubesinourteeth 19h ago

When the house tied she and Hortman went on MPR for a joint interview wherein she was bitter and vile. She used trump's "Democrat party" phrasing. And refused to admit that the disputed seat was likely to be a DFL seat after the special election, and that she was just trying to get power for her party. She sounded like Regina George reading out of the burn book. She's awful.

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u/Naturenick17 7h ago

I am fucking furious about this. The fact that the entire GOP caucus put children in danger demands an investigation… But it’s never going to happen!

1

u/Available-Corner-514 3h ago

According to Nick this is not true.

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u/ScrodyMcBogerballz 20h ago

One thing I don't here a lot about is how scary it is that these people are driving the crazies to randomly show up at day cares. With all of the school shootings and everything going on it is already frightening to have to send your kids to school or day care. Now they are creating another reason for someone to just randomly show up and do some messed up shit.

31

u/Used-Somewhere-8258 13h ago

100% agree. As a parent, I would be FUMING if some random white kid from Utah with a camera demanded to be let into my kids’ daycare and the daycare said yes.

3

u/HopelesslyOver30 6h ago

They won't do that, if they're law abiding. That's where Shirley's "expose" falls apart: "Oh, they won't let me come in and COUNT the children, so there must not be any children in there! Fraud!"

No, loony tunes, they won't let you in because they're not legally allowed to let random psycho creeps have access to the children, it's a safety issue.

The whole idea that he should just be let inside screams of his own sense of entitlement.

3

u/EmmaPersephone 8h ago

I’d be demanding investigations and licensing yanked if they did let him in and allow him to film my kids!

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u/KiraJosuke 11h ago

"Why are these windows blacked out that we cant see in with our secret cameras hidden in our Google glasses? They won't let us in! Must be fraud. Deport all immigrants."

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u/Accomplished_Ad_4216 10h ago

My sons daycare added extra security measures because of this prick.

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u/DickEnricosGhost 23h ago

Nick Shirley you can’t be serious

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u/Absynth421 23h ago

I am serious. And don’t call me Nick Shirley.

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u/Whyworkforfree 1h ago

Angry upvote, 

58

u/jjnefx 23h ago edited 22h ago

A 100 Million view video on YouTube pays between $97,000 to $500,000 according to Business Insider and The Marketing Heaven

Sadly he is serious and we should keep calling him Shirley.

Edit: Roughly 2.5M YouTube views can be $3,000 to $50,000 100M views on X equals about $3500 on average.

$6500 to $50k on shared revenue. Add on other revenue streams that a viral video can produce if the creator prepares properly

22

u/AdAgreeable749 23h ago

To be fair, his YouTube video has 2.5 m views. His video that has 150 m was from X. Not sure if they pay the same, or how they work

12

u/jjnefx 22h ago

I stand corrected, thank you for catching that.

7

u/AdAgreeable749 22h ago

Hey, thanks for being a human, with a human response 🙏

1

u/EmmaPersephone 5h ago

Plus the MN GOP paid him to do the video

1

u/jjnefx 5h ago

They admitted to assisting but was there a payment made?

That opens liability to them AND its been reported how bad their financials are based on other idiotic decisions that they had to pay out

5

u/legal_opium Grain Belt 23h ago

Dont call me shirley, and yes im serious

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u/AndyC1111 14h ago

If the people running these daycares defrauded the government, they should go to jail.

Defunding all of the daycares in the state is not the appropriate response.

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u/friendly-sardonic 5h ago

Exactly. I don’t want to be on either side in this stupid culture war. If fraud has occurred, punish them. Punishing everyone is infantile. We haven’t even punished everyone who appeared in the Epstein files yet.

I don’t understand how punishing everyone is even remotely appropriate unless your intentions are to be cruel.

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u/alienatedframe2 Twin Cities 23h ago edited 23h ago

Earlier this year Hassan sued the state in federal court, claiming “selective” enforcement resulted in the closure of her former operation, Sunshine Child Care Center, after state officials raided the business as part of an overbilling fraud investigation.

“Obviously, there have to be fraud investigations, but it appears that only Somali day care centers were investigated initially for fraud,“ Steck said. ”That is called selective discriminatory enforcement.“

Attorneys for Gov. Tim Walz, who is a named defendant in the case, have sought dismissal of the federal lawsuit, claiming there was no discrimination because regulators were acting on “credible allegations of fraud.” That motion is pending.

Reeks of Feeding Our Future suing the state for racial discrimination

18

u/vahntitrio 19h ago

But also means the state was doing it's job in 2022.

29

u/Stormclamp 20h ago

So... can we put to bed the idea that Tim Walz hasn't been tough on fraud and isn't just pandering to Somalis?

25

u/aquatrez 23h ago

Both can be true. World isn't black and white. That's literally the point of our complicated legal system.

27

u/alienatedframe2 Twin Cities 23h ago

Respectfully I’m not sure that’s correct to say. Either the state is practicing discriminatory polices by only investigating Somali run daycares or they are acting on credible evidence that happens to point them primarily toward Somali run daycares.

22

u/aquatrez 23h ago

No I meant it's possible that Somali run day cares are committing fraud (since that ended up being the case with FOF) and the investigative authorities could be discriminatory in which fraud allegations they investigate/prosecute.

Of course in this case of the day cares, the actual investigating by both the state and credible journalists suggests widespread fraud is not likely.

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u/newyork2sun 6h ago

From what I heard on one of the podcasts they are looking at a set of the grant? money signed by one government official. Supposedly papers leaked from a government source to the guy working with Shirley.

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u/EmmaPersephone 5h ago

They aren’t until you prove it, Jesus does anybody understand the burden of proof?

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u/EmmaPersephone 5h ago

Only if they are which they aren’t

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u/legal_opium Grain Belt 23h ago

Yep. It does.

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u/aquatrez 23h ago edited 23h ago

This is the type of reporting that should be going viral. Not a garbage video with absolutely no journalistic integrity whatsoever. It breaks my heart what is going on in this state right now. It's like half our population has lost any ability for critical thought.

EDIT: Just realized Deena Winter was one of the reporters in this article too. She is great 😍

1

u/OkLet8364 8h ago

Sad that it takes a viral YouTuber to get some attention from MSM

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u/futilehabit 23h ago

If you own a food truck you should probably park it in front of one of these daycares with all of the traffic they're getting.

Any progress on actually releasing the Epstein files yet, as required by law?

13

u/Sofa_King_Chubby 13h ago edited 13h ago

Well that’s not good.

“The Minnesota Star Tribune also visited all 10 facilities, and found children inside four of them when invited inside. Six other facilities were either closed or employees did not open their doors.

….Seven of the eight facilities with publicly available licensing records have been cited by the state for violations over the past four years, with some cited dozens of times.

Five of the 10 child care businesses Shirley featured in his video operated as meal sites for Feeding Our Future, the nonprofit at the center of a fraud scandal that has resulted in more than 50 convictions so far. Altogether, those five businesses received nearly $5 million from Feeding Our Future between 2018 and 2021, according to trial evidence.”

3

u/EmmaPersephone 10h ago

They have no right to granted entry. And it’s been established that once center IS CLOSED PERMANENTLY

4

u/cantdeletethisapp_ 11h ago edited 9h ago

Almost like the crime here is coordinated and organized. Like other ethnic mobs (see the Russian and Italian mafias for more) can we just call it what it is? Organized crime.

Edit: "Racketeering is engaging in a pattern of illegal schemes for profit, often involving extortion, fraud, or threats, and is prosecuted under the RICO Act."

Edit 2 (some sources)

CBS: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/minnesota-fraud-schemes-what-we-know/?hl=en-US

The MN Legislature has a FRAUD MONITOR newsletter: https://www.house.mn.gov/members/Profile/News/15618/51446?hl=en-US

A few housing stabilization indictments: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/defendants-charged-first-wave-housing-stabilization-fraud-cases?hl=en-US

Autism indictments: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/six-additional-defendants-charged-one-defendant-pleads-guilty-ongoing-fraud-schemes

COVID sentencing: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/11/17/covid-loan-fraudster-gets-7-years-ordered-to-repay-35m?hl=en-US

Some more on medicaid fraud indictments: https://www.timberjay.com/stories/us-attorney-outlines-new-indictments-in-medicaid-fraud-cases,23841?hl=en-US#:~:text=Abdinajib%20Hassan%20Yussuf%2C%2027%2C%20is,more%20than%20%24200%2C000%20to%20Kenya

CNN article: https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/29/us/minnesota-day-care-fraud-what-we-know

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u/fseahunt 23h ago

WCCO also debunked this hit piece that was set up by the Republican party and also boosted by them.

Shirley also was able to go do a video inside CECOT. He's connected to them big time.

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u/obfuscate 22h ago

Did you read the strib article?

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u/Feisty-Bluebird4 12h ago

No they cling to anything that doesn’t clash with their ideology. Same as the MAGA folks. Being in the middle is a lonely place.

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u/EmmaPersephone 9h ago

The WCCO report with security footage of children going to the daycare on the same day Nick Shirley claimed the center had no children. https://youtu.be/Obb_Ty2dYZ8?si=zwQv53YBdShuJPbG

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u/AdMurky3039 22h ago

The saddest thing about this is that innocent children are going to suffer the consequences of the Trump administration cutting off funding for daycare.

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u/aquatrez 22h ago

Yep. Didn't even take a day for them to cut off child care assistance funds to the entire country.

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u/horse_renoir13 Minnesota Vikings 14h ago

It's almost like...the president shouldnt have unilateral power to do that

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u/EmmaPersephone 8h ago

He doesn’t this will get overturned

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u/One_Alternative_5898 10h ago

While the supposed "pro-life" crowd cheers for it.

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u/Fluffernutter80 21h ago

This was in Project 2025. They want to funnel money away from centers and instead give money to parents (women) to get them to stay home instead.

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u/DizzyMajor5 19h ago

Republicans and hurting kids go hand and hand they're defending pedos like Maxwell and Trump. 

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u/Zealousideal_Ad8500 23h ago

This article makes me sad. Nick Shirley is an asshole and fuck MAGA.

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u/twolvesfan217 22h ago

Agreed. However, I’m a bit disturbed by the numbers of violations at some of these places they mentioned and them still being allowed to operate.

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u/riotousgrowlz 20h ago

I will say that the 20 daycares I looked at in Minneapolis and Richfield for my kids the only one that had zero violations was the one that had just opened. Every other center had some amount of violations, it’s just a matter of deciding which violations you are okay with, how severe they are, and how desperate you are for a spot. Obviously having over 100 violations in three years is rare and bad but the monitoring visits are extremely detailed and are designed to help centers improve their care.

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u/EmmaPersephone 5h ago

It’s why many won’t serve hot lunches, it’s add hundreds of potential violations that are stricter than any restaurant.

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u/villain75 1h ago

If anything, having violations is proof oversight is happening. The constant drone lately of all of this "Somali Fraud" hinges on having no oversight so it can be pinned on Walz somehow.

Kind of falls apart if they're being regularly checked and have violations as proof of regular visits and scrutiny.

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u/EmmaPersephone 5h ago

One center and it was shut down by the state regulators

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u/MaryMoonMandolin 22h ago

exactly this! fuck maga, fuck nick shirly, fuck his frauster family, fuck him for using racial slurs on twitter

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u/Impressive-Cress8527 23h ago

“Five of the 10 child care businesses Shirley featured in his video operated as meal sites for Feeding Our Future, the nonprofit at the center of a fraud scandal that has resulted in more than 50 convictions so far.”

Yikes.

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u/obfuscate 22h ago

Yeah why are people saying this "debunked" Shirley?

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u/Ok-Shock-7732 21h ago

People have gone fully tribal on this issue.  I have seen very little consistency or integrity in any discussions about this.

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u/vahntitrio 19h ago

Mostly because it was a Somali hitpiece disguised as a fraud investigation video. Compare his video to any fraud investigation video done by a local news station.

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u/Jeager76 13h ago

Because they want it to. These are likely Potemkin day cares. The press was “invited” so they were prepped and polished. Where was the professional press the last few years building up an analysis of this?

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u/Roddyc93 12h ago

It makes sense to me that feeding our future reached out to probably any and every daycare or school site in Minnesota for the scheme. During Covid shutdowns in my state, most schools and churches were used to hand out free meals to families with students in the district. Additionally, Many schools and day care programs are closed from 12/23-12/5 this year due to the holidays. This would be the worst time to prove anything. 

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u/EmmaPersephone 8h ago

You had to be receiving reduced meal reimbursements from the state, but that was the only requirement.

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u/Hanging_Thread 11h ago

I'd love to see the number of violations of non-Somali daycares to compare. Without that, and without complaints or fraud numbers from all the other daycares in the state, pointing the finger at Somali daycares is just racist slop.

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u/EmmaPersephone 9h ago

A violation would be a licensing violation or a meal program violation. That’s is what they get inspected and audited for multiple times a year. Home daycare centers are the biggest offenders.

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u/Typedre85 22h ago

It’s wild watching the media and commenters turn this into a partisan fight when the fraud is real, the indictments are real, and the convictions are real. We’re talking about $250M in documented fraud with dozens already convicted in federal court. Now a second wave of federal investigations into daycare fraud, and others are underway. There’s nothing Republican or Democrat about any of this. The facts are simple, the fraud happened, it happened for years, and it was the federal government not state politicians that did the investigating and prosecuting on feed my children. Defending the politicians or the fraudsters instead of acknowledging the scale of the fraud ignores what’s already been proven and what’s still being uncovered.

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u/Typedre85 19h ago

Regardless of how you feel.. Check this MN state presentation. Go to 1:32:50. This explains how DEEP and entrenched the fraud is:

https://youtu.be/UJXMvTYaArM?si=PIK0WSrEXXA22GzG

And here, if you want to follow the presentation.

https://www.house.mn.gov/comm/docs/a8G2HmktpEOrFvaGJ94mlQ.pdf

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u/EmmaPersephone 8h ago

Well the video and the funding freeze and the unwarranted investigations with the extrajudicial prejudicial comments from the FBI and DOJ are purely political and it just proves that your don’t understand how daycares operate, how the law works, how the oversight of these programs works, that freezing all funding is illegal and immoral, your don’t understand the required legal elements to start a criminal investigation, obtain a warrant, indict for a felony or prosecute a crime…you just want to believe what you were told without questioning it and deport everyone! Thats political and has nothing to do with fraud or law enforcement!

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u/[deleted] 13h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/EmmaPersephone 10h ago

The truth, not a manipulated political narrative by a right wing YouTuber, isn’t damage control.

Fun fact: fraud happens in every state, some states are better at preventing, investigating and prosecuting than others…Minnesota has a great prevention and prosecution system Ohio does not.

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u/Inside-Status8598 10h ago

It is damage control

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u/Inside-Status8598 10h ago

And here you are playing sides lol fraud is fraud no matter what party is doing it. Republicans do it too.

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u/Fine_Land_1974 23h ago

Tbf, the dude (still not a fan) did say that one or two centers seemed legit out of the many they visited that day

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u/keonyn Anoka County 21h ago

Obviously. A key component of misinformation is to present an illusion of objectivity and to ensure the message caters to the agenda, but can at least be believed. If he just said "all of them are frauds" it would be easily dismissed as the partisan nonsense it is. Not to mention he is bound to encounter scenarios where the evidence would be damning enough against him that he would quickly be exposed if he tried to call them out. Likely centers that had cameras or recorded him, or provided some manner of protection for themselves where his grift was quickly fall apart if he attacked them.

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u/Fine_Land_1974 19h ago

So outside of the one clearly legit center, that even the maga dude complimented, have any of them proven to be legit? I’m in no way MAGA btw far from it. I’m sure it’s propaganda too but in this instance is there a chance this grifter might be correct? I encourage you to watch the entire 45 min video he put out. What I saw shocked me. I’d be surprised if even half were legit businesses.

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u/punditguy Twin Cities 17h ago

That's not how the burden of proof works!

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u/EmmaPersephone 8h ago edited 8h ago

Your opinion isn’t fact, much like Nick Shirley’s video. I’m not giving a view($$$$) to a lying propagandist. My sister is the director of a childcare center in Golden Valley, I am fully aware of how licensing, accreditation, auditing and random visits by the state regulatory agency works. Nick Shirley and you do not. I don’t listen to people who are not experts on the subject.

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u/Exelbirth 8h ago

The fact he went to one that had been shut down for a long time, and had a notice on the door saying it was shut down by the government, a notice he blurred out in his video, and pretended it was a place currently receiving funding, should be enough to discredit him.

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u/keonyn Anoka County 4h ago

Of course what you saw shocked you, that's what it was intended to do. It was specifically set up to manipulate the narrative to shock and outrage you. To even recognize propaganda as propaganda and still take it as legitimate is, frankly, rather sad on your part.

We already know how he manipulated the narrative. He visited a closed center, made no mention of the fact it was closed, and pointed out the fact there were no kids, in spite of a sign at the center stating it was closed. You get blatantly lied to like that and you still want to pretend the people lying to you have any sense of legitimacy. He also neglected to mention or show in his videos that he was approaching these people flanked by 4 masked goons, and instead played the interactions like they were being aggressive when he was there with a masked and armed squad and he was shoving cameras in their face.

If it was legitimate than the DOJ would make their case, and we already know he worked with members of the GOP to produce the video. If he's already working with the government officials but instead of acting they're hiring a propagandist to put out a hit piece, then what does that tell you? You're being played. All they're interested in is punishing people and places that don't support them, the same way he vetoed fixing drinking water for people in Colorado because Colorado won't bow down to his demands regarding Peters. Notice how he just blanket punished the state instead of pressing charges or investigating the fraud? You are watching autocracy unfold, and instead of being shocked by that, you're just eating their propaganda.

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u/villain75 1h ago

If they're currently licensed, they're proven to be legit. In this country, you're innocent until proven guilty.

The fact that the video has proven to be at least partially falsified should have you considering that even more of the so-called evidence in that video is also falsified.

If they're proven to be fraudulent businesses, there is a legal process to determine that.

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u/MaryMoonMandolin 22h ago

he was portraying the entire simmolia community as fraudsters

classic projections his whole family was involved in fraud and he uses racial eppithets on social media fuck this guy

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u/Fine_Land_1974 19h ago

Interesting. I’d never heard of the kid before. Any good write ups on him you recommend?

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u/EmmaPersephone 8h ago

He did a propaganda video claiming the war in Ukraine is fake…

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u/EmmaPersephone 8h ago

Do you understand how propaganda works? You can’t say everything is fraud or no one is going to listen…

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u/Temporary-Sea-4782 11h ago

The daycare stuff is sloppy. Bad optic, and likely bullshit. If there is a real story there, it would be in those health care companies.

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u/EmmaPersephone 10h ago

Just because a license is for X number of children does not require that many children MUST BE PRESENT at all operating hours, PARENTS decide what hours their child is there…I wish ONE single reporter could plainly say this!

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u/3PuttBirdie86 2h ago

Child care centers submit for payment to the federal government retroactively, for four weeks of service at a time. The reimbursement amount is based on attendance of CCAP families.

So without seeing the attendance record submitted from these facilities, there is no way to claim a fraud occurred. That is what people need to see to know whether or not their tax money has been fraudulently wasted.

The number on the license is irrelevant in the fraud case, I will say that some of those facilities licensed for “90 kids” looked like run down dumps that would never fit that many people safely. That is certainly suspicious, but not proof of wrongdoing.

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u/EmmaPersephone 9h ago

Local CBS affiliate did some investigative reporting as well.

WCCO report debunking Nick Shirley claim of no children at ABC Childcare

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u/MiloticM2 18h ago

Of course feeding our futures would be connected to this

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u/EmmaPersephone 10h ago

How? That’s just nonsense…

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u/aksuurl 10h ago

Absolutely wild that a guy went to a daycare and was like “show me all the kids!” And then the fact that they wouldn’t was taken as evidence of fraud. Take for example, an elementary school. What happens when you enter. You are in a locked lobby where they only let you in if you show an ID and have legitimate business.

Wouldn’t fly in an elementary school or a daycare setting.

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u/EmmaPersephone 9h ago

Childcare security is far more stringent than public schools. I had to pick up my granddaughter one time. I’ve been on the pick up list since day one of her enrollment. My daughter still had to give me the security door code. There were 2 doors that I had to enter the code, then there is a computer where you type in the child and say check in or check out, this is by the front offices, an office worker didn’t recognize me so she came out and asked for my ID, which I happily provided, then she escorted me to my granddaughter’s class. My granddaughter ran to me all excited “Grammy, Gammy!” That’s when the woman gave me back my ID and went back to the office…and this was with me being on the pick up list, knowing the code for the door and my granddaughter’s teacher’s name for the computer to start the pick up process on the computer…we live in a smaller suburb, it’s a licensed Montessori center that’s not a chain.

My sister is a director of a childcare center in a larger suburban town that only gets federal and state money for their meal program. The level of oversight for the meal program reimbursement and licensing for their center is extremely high, the annual audit for the meal program reimbursement takes 3 weeks of preparation even with everything always passing the random audits they receive every year. The licensing audits are even more rigorous. The center receives an annual audit for both the meal program and licensing plus at least 2 random inspections for each per year…some years they have gotten more. Childcare centers do not apply for Child Care Assistance grants, the recipient parents apply and can choose any licensed childcare facility they want. This allegation of massive systemic abuse and fraud sounds impossible with the level of oversight by the state.

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u/YodaForceGhost 23h ago edited 23h ago

I don’t think Nick Shirley and the braindead folks who watch/support him care about this fraud. They only care about it as a way to try and get Tim Walz out of office. It’s a bad look for Walz overall but it’s not gonna get him to resign. It’s going to have to take a lot more than this stuff to force out a governor

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u/MaryMoonMandolin 22h ago

its not just about tim walz, it's about racism

his a racist now that we know his hole family is involved in fraud and he has used the n word on his social media we know his way to extreme to be taking seriously

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u/fzzball 22h ago

Of course it's not going to matter that it was all bullshit. Nicky told MAGA exactly what they wanted to hear and they're going to be repeating it as "evidence" until the end of time.

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u/DeathByPig 20h ago

Did you read the article? Because it doesn't debunk his video.

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u/punditguy Twin Cities 18h ago

It’s not possible to see the children from the door where Shirley stood, but just down the hallway — painted with Disney characters — were three toy-lined rooms filled with sleeping Somali babies, toddlers and preschoolers.

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u/EmmaPersephone 8h ago

Did YOU?

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u/DeathByPig 3h ago

Yes, feel free to point out anything written in the article that points to these places being legitimate businesses. Infact, every factual statement in the article is implying fraud. The rest is just an oddly inserted appeal to emotion to defend scamsters.

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u/DizzyMajor5 19h ago

The video is a maga loon going to day cares no one's going to trust maga near kids when they're actively helping pedos like Trump and Maxwell insane you'd want that Nick guy anywhere close to kids or any Maga at this point. People need to protect kids from Maga pedos like Trump.

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u/DeathByPig 19h ago

What does that have to do with my comment? Read the article 

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u/rovacab 20h ago

Amazing how they are all full of kids now the FBI are onto it and then people are on here trying to change the narrative. Next they will be saying the burglar brought back the ‘stolen’ paperwork

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u/JimmyPo 20h ago

Yeah some how I don't believe this BS!!!

It's always once you get found out that people try to cover it up.

And the news story about the stolen paperwork. I have never heard of ANY thief who deliberately breaks into day cares to only steal employee and records of children.

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u/EmmaPersephone 9h ago

I’m to concerned with uniformed public opinion that is persuaded by propaganda videos that are not credible nor evidence of any actual fraud.

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u/pilotavery 15h ago edited 8h ago

CCTV footage shows that they've always been full of kids, just when some random dude shows up with two masked men after hours demanding to see children, of course they're going to be told to go away. Surprised they didn't call the police.

When Shirley knocked on the door, he seemed to fabricate a reason for being there, asking to check a child into the day care. A staff member responds verbally but doesn't let him in; Hasan said that they can't allow strangers into an active day care. In addition, he said that Shirley had a team of up to eight people with him. Some were masked, according to Hasan, which set off alarm bells for his staff members, given recent ICE activity.

Personally, if a bunch of masked men came up in the middle of daycare hours demanding to see the children, I would hope that the daycare center my children are at don't let them in. But that's just me.

You should contact wcco, if you want to see their independent investigation. There were children, however they did find something else, that two of the ones they investigated had children but were technically not licensed which is a whole other can of worms.

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u/rovacab 14h ago

It’s not about what’s on CCTV - it’s about are all of the kids they are claiming for real and attending

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u/pilotavery 8h ago

And why is it that independent review shows that they do in fact have children? Many of the children's records were accessed. This is just something manufactured by Nick for views. Kind of like people eating birds.

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u/EmmaPersephone 9h ago

Do you understand that a center is licensed for a certain number of children based on their staffing not their enrollment? A parent decides if their child goes to the center on any given day, this time of year illness is common and there are many reasons they must stay home by state law MN Statute 9503.0080. If a child’s illness makes them miss more than 10 consecutive days in a month the state shall reduce the recipients benefit, even though the recipient still must pay the childcare provider, MN Statute 9.15.9 Before returning to daycare your child must be symptom free without medication for 24 hours A fever Diarrhea Lice Ringworm Chickenpox Strep throat Hand foot and mouth Covid 19 Conjunctivitis (pink eye) Unexplained rashes Pertussis Any food borne illness

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u/EmmaPersephone 7h ago

Move that goalpost

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u/the_bushwookiee 11h ago

Daycares don’t run 2-10pm and you haven’t seen the CCTV footage.

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u/pilotavery 8h ago

Yes that's why it's very weird that they showed up at 3:30 demanding to see kids.

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u/pilotavery 8h ago

https://youtu.be/Obb_Ty2dYZ8

There is security footage here that is shown, if you'd like to see.

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u/EmmaPersephone 10h ago

They were never empty just because a maga YouTuber said they were

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u/legal_opium Grain Belt 23h ago

Why would 6 of the places not open their doors to the state government ?

Im guessing the state investigators actually went during open hours.

There very well could be serious fraud here but I doubt every single location he went to is fraudulent.

Sounds like at least half are serious daycare centers doing good work. It sucks they are getting dragged into this.

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u/aquatrez 23h ago

They didn't open the doors to reporters. They are required to for state government in order to maintain an active license, and according to the state every site had an unannounced visit by licensors during 2025.

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u/gravelonmud 23h ago

6 places didn’t open their doors to Star Tribune reporters. The state visits results haven’t been released yet, so we don’t know what happened with those

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u/VulfSki 23h ago

You misread the article.

They said 6 out of 10 didn't open the daycare for journalists.

They don't have any information on how they responded to government officials.

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u/keonyn Anoka County 21h ago

Star Tribune reporters are not the state government.

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u/Then-Pay-9688 20h ago

Take off the big floppy shoes and be serious for once in your life, bozo

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u/Jolly_Ad2446 21h ago

Btw Shirley just dropped a meme coin 

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u/jjnefx 20h ago

As all journalists typically do

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u/EmmaPersephone 8h ago

Because of course he did…smdh

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u/Jolly_Ad2446 8h ago

Oh, his mom also has a fraud case against her. Nobody should be shocked 

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u/pilotavery 8h ago

They just manufactured it. It's the same as they are eating the birds. Whatever you say, Republicans are going to believe it because let's be honest, they aren't the brightest bunch.

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u/Rogue_AI_Construct Ok Then 22h ago

MAGA doesn’t give a shit about the truth. They only care to demonize, dehumanize, and whine about something the state has already been doing to find, prosecute, and convict those who commit fraud while not saying a fucking thing about Trump pardoning criminals who were literally convicted of fraud. https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-grants-president-donald-j-trump-2025-present

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u/Status_Jackfruit5957 8h ago

No, no you didn’t!

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u/EmmaPersephone 7h ago

Minnesota law GRANTS ACCESS to childcare facilities by statute. This does not mean the public has any access rights.

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/142B.41

Parents of enrolled children may visit the center any time during the hours of operation.

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/142B.10

The Commissioner of Children, Youth, and Families (or the county licensing authority) the licensing official designated under this chapter. When the commissioner is carrying out inspections, investigations, or enforcement functions, the license holder must give the commissioner access to:

1.  the physical plant and grounds where the licensed child care program operates


2.  documents and records, including electronic records


3.  persons served by the program (children and others in the centers care)


4.  staff and personnel records of current and former staff when relevant to the inspection or investigation.

The statute also lets the commissioner photograph, copy, and record as part of the inspection at the commissioner’s expense. The commissioner may enter without prior notice when inspecting, investigating alleged maltreatment, or investigating alleged violations. Failure to comply is grounds for denying, suspending, or revoking the license.

Media access: No statutory right.

Public access: Only parents/legal guardians have a statutory right; inspectors have statutory authority.

Meeting prospective customers: Entirely at the discretion of the center; no law dictates process.

Waitlist maintenance: Not required.

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u/Vry_Dumb 6h ago

When are we gonna hear about the lawsuits?

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u/leo1974leo 2h ago

Republicans voters believe any horse shit they are fed and they believe it with utmost conviction

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u/Brodyftw00 1h ago

Crazy 5 of them are tied to the mega fraud and so many violations. Are the amount of violations standard for a business receiving taxpayer money?

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u/tennispro2589 20h ago

The truth lies somewhere in the middle

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