Woman shouts 'ICE' at journalist while he exposes alleged Somali-linked fraud in Minnesota

DOWNTOWN MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: A viral video circulating online shows a woman shouting “ICE” at journalist Nick Shirley while he was reporting in Minnesota. The confrontation occurred as Shirley visited the Quality Learning Center, a Somali-run daycare licensed to care for up to 99 children.

The footage shows the woman continuously yelling at Shirley during his on-site reporting.

Nick Shirley emphasizes importance of uncovering 'Minnesota fraud'

Youtuber Nick Shirley shared the full 42-minute video on his official X page, calling it, “Minnesota fraud, this might be my most important work yet.” 

In the caption, he wrote that he "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 We ALL work way too hard and pay too much in taxes for this to be happening, the fraud must be stopped."

In one part of the video, a woman repeatedly screams, “Don’t open up! He’s ICE!” to block Shirley, mistaking him for immigration authorities. Shirley continued questioning the funding discrepancies, highlighting local fears following recent ICE operations targeting fraud in the Twin Cities.

According to the video, the man, who accompanied the Youtuber, held up a paper showing that $1.9 million had been disbursed to the center in fiscal year 2025, adding that the total he had recorded for the center was $4 million.

“Go away. You’re not welcome here. Shame on you,” the woman told Shirley.

Shirley asked, “Are you in favor of $1.9 million going illegally/fraudulently to this business that [is called] ‘Quality Learning Center’ but can't spell ‘learning’ right on the door?" Notably, It was unclear if she had any connection to the center.

Nick declared in the video, "There's no one here. This is a prime example of the billions of dollars in fraud happening right now in Minnesota. This is one of the hundreds of ‘daycares’ receiving millions of dollars from the government. This daycare (that can’t even spell learning right) received $1,900,000 in tax-exempt funding from CCAP in 2025. This is just one of the thousands of fraudulent businesses operating in Minnesota."

Tim Walz faces backlash from journalist Nick Shirley and Tom Emmer

Nick Shirley tweeted on X, “Tim Walz and the fraudsters aren’t escaping this one.” He added, “In one day my crew and I uncovered over $110,000,000 in fraud, this is just the tip of the iceberg.” 

He continued, “We the people simply work too hard and pay too much in taxes to allow this to happen, they must be held accountable.” In another post, he called, “Tim Walz an American pirate.”

The tweets followed Shirley’s video confronting the Quality Learning Center, which showed little activity at the facility. The video comes amid a growing scandal involving the Walz administration, with reports of at least $1 billion lost to alleged social services fraud in the Twin Cities, much of it linked to the Somali community. Some funds reportedly ended up with the Somali terror group Al-Shabab.

Responding to the video, Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, representing Twin Cities suburbs and St Cloud, criticized the governor.

On X, he wrote, “4 million dollars of hard-earned tax dollars going to an education center that can’t even spell learning correctly. Care to explain this one, Tim Walz?"

The Quality Learning Center also recently drew attention after receiving 95 violations from the state human services agency between 2019 and 2023.