Morris: Minnesota’s fraud reckoning enters the influencer era

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Long derided by some as a national hub of pandemic-era fraud, Minnesota has again been cast as a symbol of governmental failure. A widely watched video released days ago by YouTuber Nick Shirley, a 23-year-old right-wing influencer, alleges that a group of day care centers operated by Somali residents in Minnesota has misappropriated “upwards of $100 million.” Shirley seeks to place the blame on Gov. Tim Walz and other elected Democrats.

While the single-sourced video narrative cannot be considered anything approaching responsible journalism, the message in the video, posted on X (formerly Twitter) with 127 million views and counting, is presented in the veneer of investigative reporting. Hardly. This was not an investigation. It was theater.

It was performance propaganda that, fairly or not, reflected a growing frustration and exhaustion with a lack of transparency, accountability and public funding in Minnesota. The fact that an out-of-state YouTuber attracted millions of views and generated intense interest in the ongoing Minnesota fraud saga, by pretending to be looking for a day care for his nonexistent child, perhaps signals something else as well: a hunger for complete clarity on the nature of the fraud to which taxpayers have unwittingly played host.

The Minneapolis props in the Shirley video were exceedingly easy to find. Seemingly empty buildings said to house child day care centers, adult-care facilities or medical services providers made for low-hanging fruit. So did the few hapless souls who answered the door when Shirley came knocking on the door with an endlessly repeated question:

Where are the children?

Whether Shirley’s claims are accurate, exaggerated or flat wrong is still an open question. But there is no denying the images he focused landed with considerable force. Closed doors. Awkward confrontations. People unable or unwilling to answer accusations hurled at them. The confronted did not look or present like criminal masterminds, however. They looked stunned. The ambush encounters also further complicate the ongoing public narrative regarding fraud rather than helping resolve the riddle of who possibly gamed the system for so much taxpayer money, so easily.

But what also matters — and makes Shirley’s Minnesota performance art somewhat unavoidable — is this reality: The underlying fraud is real.

A staggering amount of taxpayer money was stolen by Somali care providers. Whether it is more or less than the $100 million that Shirley alleges, Minnesotans still do not know the full scope of the theft or how many safeguards failed along the way. On that point, there is no debate. The Minnesota Star Tribune and other legitimate news outlets have documented these failures carefully and relentlessly.

But now, the video continues to circulate far beyond Minnesota and purports to tell our story. It has been shared by Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk, the owner of the X platform. U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, House majority whip from Minnesota, has used the video to gleefully attack Gov. Tim Walz and other Democrats.

The video and powerful forces that continue to breathe life into the content also feed suspicions that are far broader, uglier and less grounded in fact than the facade of a locked or empty building. The assumption (that’s being charitable) that viewers will separate criminals from communities is unaligned with the moment we live. This is the space where lasting damage can and will now grow — the space that is now a clear highway marker in the xenophobic march galvanizing parts of America.

Pandemic-era fraud occurred in all 50 states. Minnesota was not unique in its vulnerability, though its tradition of generosity and speed in delivering aid likely made it an attractive target for fraud tourism, as First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson labeled the action of thieves who exploited the state’s generosity and its trust in good intent. And its cultural naivety, if I may add.

That cultural history and tradition is now facing a reckoning. Taxpayers are right to demand answers about who guarded the public purse and who failed. Righteous anger is called for as long as it is not maliciously stoked, directed at the innocent or focused on communities as opposed to criminals. State and federal investigators and elected officials must continue to relentlessly pursue, prosecute and punish.

However, as the professional forensic work continues, Minnesotans must insist on accountability rooted in facts, not spectacle. This may cause some to eventually reconsider longstanding alliances. Let the chips fall where they may. But we should also remain constantly vigilant in how we vet and consume what passes for news.