U.S. Mother Blames Government Leaders for Letting Minnesota Daycare Scam Siphon Taxpayers

Brooke Shirley, the mother of independent journalist Nick Shirley, has stated that state and federal leaders failed the public by allowing alleged fraud tied to Somali-run daycare centers in Minnesota to continue unchecked for years.

Shirley described her son’s investigation as uncovering a widespread scheme that siphoned taxpayer dollars while government officials looked the other way. “The way I think of it is, if your house is burning down, are you going to try to stop the fire or are you just going to let it burn?” she said. “Our lawmakers in America have just let our country burn.”

Shirley emphasized that the fraud allegations did not occur in a vacuum, arguing that elected officials and regulators bear responsibility for failing to act despite warning signs. “They’re the ones to blame,” she stated. “They’re the ones who have allowed this to happen.”

Nick Shirley’s investigation has drawn significant online attention, surpassing 1.7 million views on YouTube and more than 121 million views on X as of Monday night. The findings have prompted federal investigations and funding freezes related to alleged misuse of public funds by daycare centers in Minnesota.

“The Somalians have a perfect scheme,” Shirley said. “They found a perfect way to take taxpayer dollars. But the bottom line is our government leaders are the ones who allowed it.”

Shirley specifically criticized Minnesota Democrat Governor Tim Walz, accusing him of ignoring the issue and attacking those who tried to bring it to light. “Tim Walz knew this was going on, and instead of doing anything about it, he calls people who are trying to call it out, like my son Nick Shirley, a white supremacist,” she said.

She added that many Minnesotans support the work and express gratitude for the serious scrutiny being applied to the allegations. “It’s literally taking people like me and my son,” Shirley said. “We’re the ones out there showing what’s going on because people are too afraid.”