Brooke Shirley, the mother of independent journalist Nick Shirley, told Newsmax on Tuesday that state and federal leaders failed the public by allowing alleged fraud tied to Somali-run daycare centers in Minnesota to continue unchecked for years.
Appearing on "National Report," Shirley said she is proud of the work she and her son have done to expose the widespread scheme that siphoned taxpayer dollars while government officials looked the other way.
"The way I think of it is, if your house is burning down, are you going to try to stop the fire or are you just going to let it burn?" Shirley said. "Our lawmakers in America have just let our country burn."
Shirley said the fraud allegations uncovered by her son did not happen in a vacuum, arguing that elected officials and regulators bear responsibility for failing to act despite warning signs.
"They're the ones to blame," she said. "They're the ones who have allowed this to happen."
Nick Shirley's investigation has drawn massive attention online, surpassing 1.7 million views on YouTube and more than 121 million views on X as of Monday night. It has drawn national attention to allegations that daycare centers in Minnesota abused public funding programs, prompting federal investigations and funding freezes.
"The Somalians have a perfect scheme," she said. "They found a perfect way to take taxpayer dollars. But the bottom line is our government leaders are the ones who allowed it."
Shirley singled out Minnesota Democrat Gov. Tim Walz, accusing him of ignoring the issue and attacking those who tried to bring it to light.
"Tim Walz knew this was going on, and instead of doing anything about it, he calls people who are trying to call it out, like my son Nick Shirley, a white supremacist," she said. "They're not saying, 'Thank you for showing this. Thank you for showing what's going on.'"
"Instead, we're called white supremacists because we're trying to save our country," she added.
Shirley said many Minnesotans support their work and are grateful that the allegations are finally receiving serious scrutiny.
"The people of Minnesota are thankful for this," she said. "It's literally taking people like me and my son. We're the ones out there showing what's going on because people are too afraid."
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