A Somali-run daycare centre in Minneapolis has reported a break-in and the theft of sensitive documents, an incident its manager links directly to a recent viral video making sweeping fraud allegations against similar childcare businesses.
Break-In Follows Viral Fraud Claims
Nasrulah Mohamed, a manager at the Nokomis Daycare Center, held a press conference on Wednesday detailing the alleged crime. He stated that he was called to the facility early on Tuesday morning to discover a damaged wall and a ransacked office. Critical documents, including child enrollment information, employee records, and checkbooks, were reported missing from a file cabinet.
The Minneapolis Police Department confirmed an investigation into a break-in at the centre's address. Their initial report found nothing stolen, but a subsequent report logged the items Mohamed described.
Footage of the vandalism, showing a damaged door and wall, was published by the Somali-American website Tusmo Times.
Wave of Allegations and Community Backlash
The incident comes just days after a video by YouTuber Nick Shirley went viral. Shirley visited several Somali-run daycares in the Minneapolis area, claiming they were empty and operating as fronts to collect federal funds without providing care.
While Nokomis Daycare was not featured in Shirley's video, Mohamed claims the centre has since been subjected to racist attacks and hateful messages. He called the break-in 'devastating news' and blamed the inflammatory rhetoric from the video for targeting his community.
Mary Solheim, a director at a local Minnesota daycare, also spoke at the press conference, denouncing the 'inflammatory rhetoric' and calling Shirley a 'random YouTube personality' whose work fuels fear and division.
Funding Frozen Amid Mounting Political Tensions
The controversy has escalated to the federal level. On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a freeze on federal childcare funding for Minnesota amid the fraud allegations.
Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O'Neill stated the department had launched a fraud-reporting hotline and demanded an audit from Governor Tim Walz's administration regarding the centres in Shirley's video. All future payments will now require detailed justification and evidence.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz hit back, accusing the federal administration of politicising the issue. 'We’ve spent years cracking down on fraudsters,' Walz wrote on social media. 'It’s a serious issue - but this has been his plan all along. He’s politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans.'
The Nokomis Daycare Center, licensed for up to 71 children, has a record with only two minor violations from its last inspection in October. State records show no prior suggestion of impropriety at the facility.
This scandal marks the second major fraud case to impact Minnesota's Somali community recently, following a $250 million food aid fraud case prosecuted by the FBI.
