![\"Tyler](\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/thumbnail\/public\/pictures\/picture-5.jpg\")
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by Tyler Durden<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thursday, Jan 01, 2026 – 12:50 PM<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Washington state attorney general released a statement on X<\/a> Tuesday evening warning independent journalists to stop investigating fraudulent Somali daycare centers or they could be charged with a hate crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy office has received outreach from members of the Somali community after reports of home-based daycare providers being harassed and accused of fraud with little to no fact-checking,\u201d <\/strong>State AG Nick Brown stated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are in touch with the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families regarding the claims being pushed online and the harassment reported by daycare providers. Showing up on someone\u2019s porch, threatening, or harassing them isn\u2019t an investigation. Neither is filming minors who may be in the home. This is unsafe and potentially dangerous behavior.<\/strong>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil rights, issued a warning of her own in reaction to the Washington state AG\u2019s post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cANY state official who chills or threatens to chill a journalist\u2019s 1A rights will have some \u2018splainin to do,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>she wrote on X,<\/a> Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c[The DOJ Civil Rights Division] takes potential violations of 18 USC \u00a7 242 seriously!\u201d Dhillon added.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This statute, known as the Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law, makes it a crime for any person acting under the pretense of law to willfully deprive another individual of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The clash of the AGs came after Youtuber Nick Shirley exposed about a dozen Somali-owned, state-funded childcare facilities in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that appeared to be completely deserted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/assets.zerohedge.com\/s3fs-public\/inline-images\/2026-01-01_08-44-06.jpg?itok=BEXDQsE8\")
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![<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nHarmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil rights, issued a warning of her own in reaction to the Washington state AG\u2019s post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cANY state official who chills or threatens to chill a journalist\u2019s 1A rights will have some \u2018splainin to do,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>she wrote on X,<\/a> Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201c[The DOJ Civil Rights Division] takes potential violations of 18 USC \u00a7 242 seriously!\u201d Dhillon added.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThis statute, known as the Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law, makes it a crime for any person acting under the pretense of law to willfully deprive another individual of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe clash of the AGs came after Youtuber Nick Shirley exposed about a dozen Somali-owned, state-funded childcare facilities in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that appeared to be completely deserted.<\/p>\n\n\n\nShirley produced a 42-minute video,<\/a> which has been viewed over 131 million times on X since it was posted on December 26, alleging that Minnesota governor Tim Walz (D.) \u201cknew about the fraud but never reported it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nInspired by Shirley\u2019s bombshell report, citizen journalists in multiple states with large Somali populations have launched their own investigations in recent days.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn the Kent, Washington area Tuesday, YouTuber Chris Sims, a self-described \u201cgonzo journalist,\u201d visited seven suspicious Somali childcare sites and reported that they were \u201cvery unhappy\u201d to see him.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nSims posted a video<\/a> of him approaching a private home listed as a childcare facility that appeared to be not as advertised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThere was no sign of kids or being a Daycare facility,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> Sims wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI was told by a few they weren\u2019t Daycares despite receiving tax payer dollars. One yelled \u2018Call the police\u2019 behind the door.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n](\"https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/2026-01-01_08-44-06.jpg?itok=BEXDQsE8\"){kind=link}