Nick Shirley, a prominent right-wing influencer recognized for his contentious videos about Minnesota’s Somali community, recently appeared on Fox News seeking financial support from his followers to hire private security. He cites threats purportedly coming from left-wing individuals as the reason for his appeal.
Shirley has since relocated his operations to California, where he claims to have uncovered more than $170 million in fraudulent activities within state-funded childcare and home healthcare services.
Shirley’s rise to fame began in December with a viral video targeting Somali-operated daycare centers. Since then, he reports facing doxxing and threats whenever he visits new locations to produce his videos.
Following a post on X declaring it was ‘time to raise money for security‘ once more, Shirley appeared on Kayleigh McEnany’s show over the weekend to promote his online fundraising efforts.
“People try to reveal my whereabouts in real-time,” he explained. “It’s frustrating because I’ll visit a city, start filming, and then a left-wing activist will snap a photo and share it on a Reddit group. This happened to me in Baltimore and just recently in California.”
He continued, “They say, ‘run Nick Shirley out.’ This has occurred in multiple cities. My security funds dwindled after Minnesota, leaving me with almost nothing, so I have to raise money again to continue filming these videos.”
‘I used to be able to film these videos without security,’ he continued.
‘The last hospice video cost $15,000 to go film because I had to have private security for three days. So, I asked my fans and viewers if they could help me out with those security costs.’
Nick Shirley appeared on Kayleigh McEnany’s Fox News show on Saturday to ask his fans to fundraise for his private security after alleged threats from leftists
Shirley first gained notoriety in December when he posted a video looking into various Somali-run daycare centers in Minneapolis. After his video, the Trump administration launched a major immigration enforcement operation in the city
The Daily Mail approached Shirley for further comment.
Shirley’s video, which profiled Minneapolis daycare centers that appeared empty or displayed misspelled signage, racked up millions of views.
One daycare facility had a sign out front that read ‘Quality Learing Center,’ fueling accusations that public dollars were going to ill-equipped businesses.
The Quality Learning Center, the daycare’s actual name, was set to receive $1.9 million from the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) in 2025, according to figures shared by the state House Republican Caucus.
Those figures also show that it has received about $10 million from CCAP since 2019.
This information, brought to the forefront by Shirley, caught the attention of the Trump administration.
Within days of Shirley’s video being uploaded on December 26, federal agents began going door-to-door at various locations where supposed fraud was taking place.
In the beginning of January, Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services also froze around $10 billion in federal funding that was going to child care and family assistance in five states, including Minnesota.
The state had already been a nexus of fraud, with federal prosecutors alleging in November that Minnesota’s government was defrauded out of at least $1 billion in public funds for programs meant to feed children, assist the homeless and provide autism therapy.
So-called providers submitted false invoices to be reimbursed for services that were never provided, according to authorites.
Dozens have been charged as part of these fraud schemes, and at least 59 have been convicted so far. Many of those accused of the fraud are based within the state’s Somali community.
Also in January, thousands of agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection began going to Minneapolis.
The heavy deployment led to widespread protests in the streets, even during subzero temperatures. Protests significantly ramped up after Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti were shot and killed by federal agents.
