What started as a viral YouTube video alleging empty Somali-run day care centers has erupted into a sweeping federal crackdown that became national news overnight.
Following this, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota ended his bid for a third term amid Republican and some Democratic criticism over his administration’s handling of the scandal.
The outrage against fraud in the Somali community began in 2022, when federal prosecutors say a nonprofit falsely claimed to be providing meals to needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, reports say they helped steal more than $250 million in public funds, leading to charges against dozens of people, most of them Somali.
The founder of the nonprofit convicted of hatching the welfare fraud scheme was Aimee Bock (not a Somali), who was found guilty by a federal jury in March 2025 on wire fraud, bribery, and conspiracy.
What really transpired?
The “Somali daycare fraud incident” is really two stories unfolding at once in Minnesota:
- A real, long-running concern about fraud in publicly funded programs, including child care assistance
- A recent viral flashpoint, sparked by a conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley’s video that led to raids, inspections, political escalation, and backlash from Somali child care operators
How it started (the viral trigger)
In late December 2025, Shirley posted a video alleging that nearly a dozen Minneapolis-area day care centers, many Somali-owned, were receiving large public payments despite appearing empty or inactive when he visited. The video spread widely online and was amplified by prominent Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance and Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, according to Reuters.
🚨 Here is the full 42 minutes of my crew and I exposing Minnesota fraud, this might be my most important work yet. We uncovered over $110,000,000 in ONE day. Like it and share it around like wildfire! Its time to hold these corrupt politicians and fraudsters accountable
— Nick shirley (@nickshirleyy) December 26, 2025
We ALL… pic.twitter.com/E3Penx2o7a
Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) acknowledged concerns but also raised questions about the video’s methods. DCYF Commissioner Tikki Brown told CBS News the state was taking fraud allegations seriously, even while questioning how the video was made.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem subsequently called for a “massive investigation on childcare and other rampant fraud.”
What investigators found so far
State regulators and federal officials quickly visited multiple centers highlighted in the video. CBS News reported that, based on state records, most of the centers cited in the video had active licenses and had been visited by state regulators within the prior six months; the records showed many operational and safety-related citations, but “no recorded evidence of fraud” in the licensing documentation CBS reviewed.
One center became a symbol in the online narrative, ie, the Quality Learning Center (mocked online because a sign misspelled it to “learing”). The facility received $1.9 million from Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program in fiscal year 2025. The state said its most recent licensing review (June 2025) found operational violations but no evidence of fraud. The center is now closed.
At the same time, Minnesota officials have said some of the centers referenced in the viral video are, in fact, under active investigation. FOX 9 reported DCYF said four of the 10 centers referenced were under investigation.
According to the DCYF, other child care centers mentioned in the videos also received the following CCAP funding in fiscal year 2025:
- Super Kids Daycare Center ($471,787)
- Future Leaders Early Learning Center ($3.68 million)
- Quality Learning Centers ($1.9 million)
- Tayo Daycare ($1.09 million)
- Minnesota Child Care Center ($2.67 million)
- Mini Child Care Center ($1.6 million)
- Sweet Angel Child Care ($1.54 million)
- ABC Learning Center ($1.04) million
- Minnesota Best Child Care Center ($3.4 million)
The federal escalation
After the video went viral, the federal response intensified. Reuters reported FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau “surged” investigative resources to Minnesota amid fraud investigations that federal officials have portrayed as involving Minnesota’s Somali community, while immigrant-rights advocates accused the administration of using fraud probes as a pretext to target Somali immigrants broadly.
Separately, HHS announced policy changes framed as anti-fraud measures, explicitly pointing to “credible and widespread allegations” in Minnesota and arguing that paying based on enrollment paperwork rather than attendance “invites abuse.”
“Congress appropriated this funding to support working families and ensure children have safe places to grow and learn,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “Loopholes and fraud diverted that money to bad actors instead. Today, we are correcting that failure and returning these funds to the working families they were meant to serve.”
Community backlash
As attention spiked, misinformation surged too. A Craigslist post claiming a day care was hiring “child actors” to pose as attendees circulated online as supposed proof of fraud, but AP’s fact-check found it was a prank by an online comedy show, not evidence of wrongdoing.
Somali day care operators also reported feeling unsafe and targeted. Sahan Journal reported a break-in at a Somali-owned day care in south Minneapolis, including damage and theft of documents connected to enrollment and checks, as operators feared copycat harassment after the viral video.
Those alleging fraud and demanding crackdowns argue that the dollar amounts flowing through CCAP and other programs are so large, and that Minnesota has had major fraud cases in recent years, that aggressive enforcement is overdue. They point to the payments listed for individual centers, some in the millions, and say empty-looking facilities, even if filmed at a quiet moment, justify deeper audits and criminal scrutiny.
Now, multiple centers are under investigation, at least one high-profile center has closed voluntarily, and officials are juggling two competing realities, such as the need to prosecute any real fraud and the harms of viral-driven suspicion and misinformation.
