Before alleging fraud in Minnesota’s Somali community, right-wing YouTuber Nick Shirley built a following with anti-immigrant clips.
The day after Christmas, far-right YouTuber Nick Shirley posted a video claiming to have exposed fraud at Somali-owned day care centers in Minnesota. Portions of the 42-minute video — mostly scenes where Shirley is turned away at the day cares — went viral in conservative circles, catching the attention of the Trump administration, which was already at work targeting Minnesota’s Somali community amid its broader war on immigrants.
The video, which has been viewed more than 2.2 million times on YouTube and millions more on other platforms, sparked a renewed crackdown in Minneapolis, with the Department of Homeland Security announcing on Monday it would visit 30 sites suspected of fraud across the city.
This isn’t the first time the conservative YouTuber has gotten the attention of the Trump administration. Shirley participated in Donald Trump’s “Roundtable on Antifa” in October after an altercation at an anti-ICE protest. At age 23, his videos aren’t merely influencing his audiences — they’re also influencing government action.
This is an indictment of free speech at least the way the US handles it.
I suspect you come from the right wing perspective, so you’re satisfied with bad faith reporting that may be carelessly or even recklessly indifferent to truth or nuance - or even knowingly false - because it serves the purposes of the Republican Party and in particular MAGA/Trump (including distracting from his increasingly obvious pedophile past). However you will not be in support when the next one comes along and leverages the speed of virality against plodding legalistic and good-faith journalistic systems to work against your interests.
In short, you’re too shortsighted to see why supporting this is damaging to you as well.
No I edited my reply. I’m am absolutely not rightwing, just stupid in communicating my thoughts.