Conservative citizen journalist Nick Shirley, whose viral exposs on alleged fraud in Minnesotas Somali community drew national attention, is now appealing to supporters to help fund private security after what he describes as escalating threats from left-wing activists.
According to Breitbart, the YouTuber recently relocated his investigative work to California, where he claims to have uncovered more than $170 million in suspected fraud involving taxpayer-funded childcare and home healthcare programs. His latest efforts build on the momentum he gained late last year, when his videos on Somali-run daycare centers in the Minneapolis area spread rapidly online and drew both praise from conservatives and fury from the left.
Shirley says that backlash has now taken a dangerous turn, with critics allegedly tracking his movements and attempting to intimidate him whenever he appears in a new city to film. After posting on X that it was time to raise money for security once again, Shirley went on Kayleigh McEnanys show on Saturday to boost the online fundraiser, the Daily Mail reported.
People try to dox my location live, he told McEnany on Fox Newss Outnumbered. It sucks because Ill go to a city, Ill be out filming [then] some left-wing activist will take a photo, put me in a Reddit group chat. This happened to me in Baltimore. It just happened this last weekend in California. He added, They say, run Nick Shirley out.
Shirley explained that he previously retained security while working in Minnesota, but those precautions nearly exhausted his resources. The last hospice (fraud) video cost $15,000 to go film because I had to have private security for three days, he said. So, I asked my fans and viewers if they could help me out with those security costs.
He is now directing supporters to donate through the Blackline Guardian Fund, a nonprofit security funding service that says it provides protection to schools, churches, community leaders, targeted families, and nonprofits. On its website it describes its mission to provide elite-level protective services, safety training, and emergency readiness resources to at-risk individuals and institutions, regardless of their ability to pay.
I used to be able to film these videos without security, Shirley said. His situation underscores a broader concern on the right that independent journalists who expose alleged abuse of taxpayer dollars and failures of multicultural policies are increasingly being met not with debate, but with intimidation and attempts to silence their work.
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