Police investigating overnight burglary of Somali day care in south Minneapolis

The manager of a Somali-run day care in south Minneapolis burglarized this week called the experience “frightening and exhausting” amid what he sees as unfair targeting of the Somali community by the federal government.

“Our licensing has been good, even the inspections,” Nasrulah Mohamed, the 20-year-old manager of Nokomis Daycare Center Inc., told reporters Wednesday. “I want to say no intimidation is going to stop us ... from guiding our community.”

Mohamed spoke Wednesday at a news conference backed by about 20 Somali and non-Somali community members, including some parents of day care children. Some held signs that read, “Hands off Minnesota childcare,” and “Racism has no place in childcare.”

A cleaner discovered the wreckage at Nokomis Daycare Center Inc. around 6 a.m. on Dec. 30 before the facility opened, then quickly alerted management, Mohamed said.

The break-in comes several days after a YouTube video by right-wing influencer Nick Shirley went viral; the video alleged that a group of day care centers operated by Somalis in Minneapolis has misappropriated “upwards of $100 million.”

Nokomis Daycare was not among the 10 centers featured in Shirley’s video.

The state Department of Human Services website says the facility is operating in good standing and is licensed to care for up to 71 children.

“We’re honest; we don’t do any fraud or nothing,” Mohamed told the Minnesota Star Tribune on Tuesday. “All this happened today — not because of the truth or the facts, but all because of fear and lies."

Mohamed arrived at the business, located in a nondescript strip mall off Bloomington Avenue, to find a gaping hole in a back wall. The thief had seemingly used tools to break apart several cinder blocks, tear out insulation and crawl inside.

A tour of the facility also showed a splintered door to the day care’s front office, where workers say file cabinets were rummaged through. Mohamed believes the burglar kicked in the door before absconding with employee payroll documents and client files.

Responding officers advised the center to cancel services for the day until repairs could be made, so employees called each family to alert them.

Although workers alleged an unknown number of documents were taken, Minneapolis police later told the Star Tribune that their written report indicated that “nothing had been stolen from the office or the day care center.”

“Late this morning the original reporting party reached out to MPD with additional information about the case including the loss,” spokesman Trevor Folke said in an email.

The breach came amid a series of harassing phone calls to the center, which escalated over the weekend following the release of Shirley’s video. Mohamed estimates that their office received approximately 20 such calls since Saturday, including several Tuesday after the break-in.

Amina Adan, a community organizer, translated for the mother of a Somali day care student. The mother said she and her children are too scared to go to day cares and that the federal government cutting all Minnesota child care funding will make it hard for her family to financially survive.

“I don’t have anyone to be home with the kids while I go to work, and I would like the person who did this heinous crime to be caught,” she said.

Mary Solheim, director of Playschool Child Care in Maplewood, stood in solidarity with Nokomis Daycare and the larger Somali community at Wednesday’s news conference. Solheim said she agrees with stopping fraud, but is against targeting an entire ethnicity based on fraud committed by some.

Two voicemails left for Nokomis Daycare and shared with the Star Tribune contained ethnic slurs and language mocking Islam. The voice seemed to be the same in both calls.

Other Somali day cares in the Twin Cities have experienced similar threatening calls, Mohamed said. In several recordings, angry men hurl profanities, accusing the centers of stealing taxpayer funds and demanding that Somalis “leave this country.”

One of these targeted day cares is Mini Child Care Center, where manager Ayan Jama said the business reported a Friday bomb threat and a Tuesday night burglary. Police confirmed the bomb threat. She said she is concerned someone is going to get hurt.

It’s not immediately clear what, if anything, the outdoor security camera at Nokomis Daycare may have captured of the burglary. A suspect description has not been released.

A secondary hole left a dusty pile of sheared drywall in a storage closet connecting the day care to an adjacent Family Dollar store. David Chester, the assistant manager, said he found the hole in their wall when he opened the store about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Given heightened anti-Somali rhetoric — including by President Donald Trump, who referred to Somalis as “garbage” in November — local mosques added security during prayer services. Residents now worry day cares will need to follow suit.

“Now it’s worse because kids are not safe,” said Adan. “Schools are closed and parents need to work. What are you gonna do with kids now if child cares are not safe?”