A south Minneapolis day care that caters to the Somali community reports that someone broke through a wall and stole sensitive documents early Tuesday morning, heightening fear in the community.
The break-in at Nokomis Daycare Center, which is run by Somali owners, occurred between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. several days after right-wing influencer Nick Shirley posted a video on Youtube alleging fraud at Somali-owned day care centers in Minnesota. Nokomis Daycare Center’s manager, child care providers and parents spoke at a news conference Wednesday morning, saying the video targeted the Somali community and prompted a federal freeze in assistance for Minnesota child care centers.
“It’s sad that a video can cause all of this,” said Nasrulah Mohamed, the day care’s manager. “We are not a part of any harmful thing that’s being said.”
Minneapolis police responded to the day care, and based on preliminary information, determined that it had been broken into, said police spokesman Trevor Folke, adding that the incident is being categorized as a burglary.
At least a dozen businesses and day cares have reported receiving threatening phone calls and messages to Minneapolis police since Dec. 19, including one day care that reported more than 100 voicemail messages, police spokesman Garrett Parten said in a written statement to Sahan Journal. Information about whether the businesses or day cares were Somali-owned was not readily available, Parten added.
“MPD evaluates the credibility of reported threats, and when appropriate, involves the department’s Behavioral Threat Assessment Team to assess risk and guide investigative and response efforts,” said Parten’s statement, which did not provide further details about the nature of the calls and messages, the callers’ motives or police’s official findings.
Calls to police in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, which has a large Somali population, increased in December 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, Parten said. The department recorded 250 police calls in the area for the month of December 2024, compared to 430 calls this past December.
Shortly after Shirley’s video went viral on Dec. 26, President Donald Trump’s administration announced a pause in federal assistance to Minnesota day care centers. U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem posted on X Monday, noting that federal officers are “on the ground” in Minneapolis investigating fraud in child care this week.
Gov. Tim Walz posted on X in response to the federal investigation, calling it a part of “Trump’s long game.” He also accused Trump of “politicizing the issue” to defund programs for Minnesotans.
“This will impact thousands of people,” community organizer Amina Adan said of the federal pause in funding. “People will lose their jobs and their homes. Those who are committing fraud need to be held accountable. We can do that without terrorizing a whole community.”
Mohamed said the day care has operated since 2016, and has not had any problems with the state or licensing. Most of the children enrolled at the daycare are Somali, he added.
Child enrollment information stolen
A cleaner entered the day care about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and discovered the damage and immediately notified staff, who called police, Mohamed said.
The unknown vandal or vandals apparently broke into the building through a cement wall, leaving behind a large hole, and then broke into the front office, according to Adan. Enrollment information for children at the day care and unwritten checks were taken from the office. Adan said the vandal also knocked dents into a closet wall.
It’s unclear who was responsible or whether more than one person was involved, Mohamed said. Surveillance cameras captured footage of a vandal; the footage has been given to the police.
Sacdiyo Aden, whose children are enrolled at the day care, said she and her children are afraid to return.
“I bring my kids here while I’m at work, and now I cannot bring my kids anymore because they are too scared,” she said. “I would like the person who did this heinous crime to be caught.”
The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) called for a law enforcement probe into possible bias for the burglary and vandalism.
“This disturbing incident raises serious concerns about the real-world consequences of anti-Somali, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim hate speech circulating online,” CAIR-MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein said in a press release issued Wednesday. “When misinformation and dehumanizing rhetoric about an entire community are allowed to spread unchecked, acts of intimidation and vandalism become more likely.”
Hussein, said his organization has received dozens of calls since the weekend from Somali business owners following the circulation of Shirley’s video. Hussein’s team is asking Somali business owners to track threatening messages and calls.
“We’re asking people to document, to keep a record of what [is] said, record as much as possible, report it to the local police, and report it to CAIR. We are trying to elevate this to the FBI, because the FBI is responsible for cross jurisdictional type of anti-Muslim hate, harassment and threats,” Hussein said.
Federal funds paused
On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced a child care funding freeze across the nation prompted by allegations of fraud in Minnesota. The state receives $185 million every year in federal child care funding, according to the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Jim O’Neill, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said on X Tuesday that payments to Minnesota have been frozen, and that federal payments anywhere in the country will require “a justification and a receipt or photo evidence.” O’Neill, who praised Shirley’s YouTube video, also called on Walz to audit Minnesota’s day care centers and to provide “attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations, and inspections.”
Kids Count on Us, an initiative of the interfaith advocacy organization Isaiah, convened a press conference at the Minnesota Capitol on Wednesday to address the development, which the organization believes will impact more than 20,000 children across Minnesota.
Khalid Omar, a community organizer with Isaiah and Faith in Minnesota, said child care centers are facing increased safety concerns in light of recent rhetoric about day care fraud, and that some are considering adding security to their sites.
“We have about 30 child care centers around the state, mainly in the metro, that have reached out to us about experiencing the uptick in hateful rhetoric,” Omar said.
Omar said staff at the centers are asking for guidance as they deal with hateful calls and messages.
“They’re asking, ‘What should we do?’ People are really confused. They’re worried,” he said. “The reality is all of this is a distraction. The administration supporting a YouTuber to come and harass and to investigate — those are the type of people that are claiming that they’re journalists. They’re not journalists. They’re here to scapegoat the Somali American community here in Minnesota.”
Carin Mrotz, a spokesperson for Attorney General Keith Ellison, shared a statement on his behalf at the news conference.
“There are legal and appropriate ways for the federal government to ensure that programs are being administered with integrity,” Ellison said in the statement. “However, this administration seems to have little interest in following the law, including laws that are designed to help state and federal agencies work together. My team and I are exploring all our legal options to ensure that critical child care services do not get abruptly slashed based on pretext and grandstanding. This hasty scorched earth attack is not just wrong, it may well be illegal.”
