Day care in Minneapolis vandalized after viral video purporting fraud

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A Minneapolis time attraction says that vandals damaged the installation aboriginal this week and took accusation astir employees and children from their records, aft a YouTube video purporting to exposure fraud among time cares successful the Twin Cities metro country went viral.

Officials with the Nokomis Daycare Center successful Minneapolis assertion that vandals broke successful aboriginal Tuesday morning, betwixt 3 and 6 a.m. Nokomis was not among the time cares featured successful the viral video, posted by rightwing influencer Nick Shirley.

Vandals got into the time attraction done cinder blocks, according to the time care. It appears the vandals archetypal tried to saw into the doorway of a Family Dollar store adjacent doorway successful the buying center, but that didn't work, officials said.

The manager claims those who broke successful went consecutive to the office, stealing accusation astir the galore children who were taken attraction of there, arsenic good arsenic employees' information. Minneapolis constabulary said, "No nonaccomplishment was (initially) reported to officers, but precocious this greeting the archetypal reporting enactment reached retired to MPD with further accusation astir the case, including the loss."

WCCO checked with the Minnesota Department of Human Services, which does not amusement immoderate grounds of the installation having committed immoderate fraud. The records, which are successful the nationalist record, amusement different insignificant violations.

"We are not a portion of immoderate harmful things that are being said," time attraction manager Nasrulah Mohamed said. "Our licensing has been good, adjacent the inspections. I privation to accidental nary intimidation is going to halt us."

The video, posted to Shirley's YouTube account, showed the influencer visiting assorted time cares and claiming them to beryllium empty. According to X, the video has been seen successful excess of 120 cardinal times.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services connected Tuesday said it's freezing kid attraction funds for Minnesota, explicitly citing Shirley's fraud allegations. Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O'Neill demanded that Minnesota officials transportation retired a "comprehensive audit" of the time attraction facilities featured successful the video.

CBS News and WCCO conducted their ain analyses of the time attraction centers. Contrary to Shirley's claims, each but 2 person progressive licenses, according to authorities records, and each person been visited by authorities regulators wrong the past six months.

Jonah Kaplan and Conor Wight contributed to this report.