Critics have started calling it “The Stop Nick Shirley Act,” though many argue California Democrats wanted a measure like this long before Shirley’s “Learing Center” video drew massive attention to alleged corruption in Minneapolis. After those reports went viral, the 24-year-old reporter turned his focus to California, where he began probing claims of additional misuse of public money.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s progressive legislative majority were never likely to welcome that kind of scrutiny. The concern from opponents is that AB 2624 was drafted in response to embarrassing investigations and could collide with First Amendment protections. While Shirley may be the most visible target, the bill could also affect other investigative journalists and video reporters, including Jennifer Van Laar, James O’Keefe, Cam Higby, Anthony Cabassa, and others who rely on direct questioning, undercover work, or field reporting.
At its core, opponents say the measure would shield people connected to “immigration support services providers” from certain forms of scrutiny by giving them protected status under the law. Reporters who confront or question operators of businesses tied to immigration-related services could face steep penalties, even when the reporting involves allegations of fraud or misuse of taxpayer funds.
Shirley and his attorneys contend that the law is unconstitutional, an argument detailed Saturday by our sister site PJ Media:
Their legal challenge claims AB 2624 is unconstitutional on its face and flawed in several additional ways. According to the suit, the law amounts to viewpoint-based discrimination, is overly broad, is unconstitutionally vague, and is being applied retroactively to reporting Shirley had already completed and published.
I’m suing California…
California has decided to push for less transparency and create laws that penalize citizens and journalists for looking into potential fraud inside “immigration support services providers.” A written demand is all it takes to stop the publishing of a… pic.twitter.com/nFnfDUff0h
— Nick shirley (@nickshirleyy) September 4, 2026
Shirley announced the lawsuit online with a blunt message: “I’m suing California…”
California has decided to push for less transparency and create laws that penalize citizens and journalists for looking into potential fraud inside “immigration support services providers.” A written demand is all it takes to stop the publishing of a video in California.
Enough is enough.
He’ll have plenty of people cheering him on:
Bravo!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2026
Good to see this. These legal battles may take years so hang tough and never compromise on the 1st amendment.
— James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) September 4, 2026
The law is patently ludicrous and nakedly shameless in its attempt to shut down accountability for fraudsters and the officials who enable it or simply look the other way.
As I wrote in late August, Shirley is adept at explaining why it’s so troubling and left a New York Times reporter — somebody who you’d think cared about freedom of the press — sputtering as he exposed her blind support for the measure and was proved to be embarrassingly ill-informed on what it actually does:
Nick Shirley leaves NY Times reporter SPEECHLESS after she attempts to defend the Stop Nick Shirley Act, a bill designed to effectively silence journalists who expose fraud.
This is exactly why no one trusts the legacy media.
pic.twitter.com/NrlFMjo4mO— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 27, 2026
I am not a lawyer, but my layman’s opinion is that this draconian garbage doesn’t even come close to passing constitutional muster. Expect more lawsuits to be dropping in the future.
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