Somali-run Minneapolis daycare claims enrollment documents were stolen amid exploding fraud scandal
A daycare center in Minnesota announced it experienced a burglary due to increased hate for the Somali community amid allegations of fraud.
A Somali-run Minneapolis daycare center announced that enrollment documents were stolen amid an alleged break-in just days after a viral video claimed childcare businesses in the city were stealing government funds.
Nasrulah Mohamed, a manager at Nokomis Daycare Center, told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday that the building was broken into, vandalized, and enrollment documents were stolen.
The Minneapolis Police Department confirmed that a break-in occurred at the center's address, but a preliminary report found that nothing was stolen. A subsequent report detailed the items Mohamed said were taken.
Mohamed said at the press conference that he and another manager were called to the facility early Tuesday morning and discovered that a wall had been damaged and documents stored in a file cabinet were missing from the office.
They included child enrollment information, employee documentation and checkbooks.
A Somali-American website, Tusmo Times, shared a video of the vandalism to the building, which depicted a damaged door and wall.
The attention on Somali-run daycares in Minnesota skyrocketed when YouTuber Nick Shirley released a viral video claiming the centers were using the business as a front to collect federal funds and weren't actually caring for children.
The Nokomis Daycare Center in Minneapolis announced they experienced a burglary after a video went viral, claiming to expose fraud schemes in Somali-run childcare businesses
Manager Nasrulah Mohamed (pictured) said the center has endured racist attacks since YouTuber Nick Shirley shared a video investigating Somali-run childcare centers
The daycare center said the alleged vandal broke into the building and stole documents with the children's information
He visited multiple Somali-run daycares in the Minneapolis area and alleged that they were empty because they weren't in operation.
The video included several contentious interactions between Shirley and employees at the daycare centers.
Many of the centers featured in the video have denied Shirley's allegations, claiming the businesses were closed when he arrived or that his information was incorrect.
Nokomis wasn't featured in Shirley's video and there's no suggestion of impropriety related to the facility, but Mohamed claimed the center is receiving hate due to the YouTuber's allegations.