YouTuber and independent journalist Nick Shirley, who broke the story of the $100 million Somali daycare fraud, said on Wednesday that he and his family are receiving death threats following his viral video that exposed the scheme.
Those threats, he said, are both in-person and online.
To make matters worse, some people are threatening to "Kirk" him, a reference to conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated early in September at Utah Valley University by a deranged leftist.
“They are saying, like, ‘Kirked, you’re going to be Kirked. You’re going to be Kirked,’” Shirley told podcast host Patrick Bet-David. “That’s what they’re saying, like, you’re next. You’ll be the next [Charlie] Kirk."
“And it’s just like, are you kidding me? It’s not even like, I hate what’s happening right now. I honestly feel bad for my family, because it’s like, yeah, we didn’t do anything wrong, and yet you guys are coming after me like I’m some sort of villain,” he added.
🚨 JUST IN: Leftists are now THREATENING Nick Shirley that he will be the next "Kirk" because he exposed fraud
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 31, 2025
"They say, you'll be Kirked." 😠
"I feel bad for my family. We didn't do anything wrong."
PROTECT NICK. The left is VERY violent.🙏🏻pic.twitter.com/qAeQGzbTqa
He later said that even his little sister was receiving threatening phone calls, and questioned why his family would even be threatened for something like this. He later told Bet-David that the reason for his journalism, specifically exposing the Somali daycare fraud, was purely about financial accountability, not politics.
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“I just showed you guys that fraud was happening," he said.
“I didn’t make this a right-or-left issue,” he added.
In the video, Shirley visited several daycare centers receiving millions in state funding. Despite arriving during normal operating hours, the locations appeared overwhelmingly empty. Some staff were hostile, while others were willing to immediately enroll Shirley’s fictitious child without verifying that the child even existed. Shirley later argued that these childcare centers were merely fronts, allowing owners and operators to cash in on taxpayer dollars meant to subsidize the industry.
Minnesota officials have since pushed back against the allegations.
Tikki Brown, Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families Commissioner, argued that government inspections have not revealed any fraud.
“We are aware of a video that’s being circulated that has gained local and national attention about childcare centers in Minnesota,” Brown said at a press conference on Monday. “While we have questions about some of the methods that were used in the video, we do take the concerns that the video raises about fraud very seriously.”
Tim Walz has inevitably been dragged in as well, especially after his administration has been plagued by excusing fraud, and once even bragged about Minnesota's childcare industry, promising to use his state as a model for the country in the 2024 vice presidential debate against JD Vance.
Walz's spokesperson said:
The governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and ask the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action. He has strengthened oversight — including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed.
They added that Walz has "hired an outside firm to audit payments to high-risk programs, shut down the Housing Stabilization Services program entirely, announced a new statewide program integrity director, and supported criminal prosecutions."
While state officials may be denying the allegations, federal officials have taken them seriously. DHS agents are going door-to-door to the sites accused of fraud, and the Department of Health and Human Services has halted all childcare payments to the state.
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