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.
What he’s doing would be considered slander in a developed country.
In the US you almost need to be able to get a written confession from someone spreading slander for it to hold up on court, though.
I do agree that deliberately spreading misinformation that translates to real political or societal consequences should be illegal. Then again, that’d mean all Republicans and establishment Dems would be in jail for life, so such laws won’t happen here.
When I checked earlier, it looked to me like it would be libel because it is a more or less permanent, published piece of media.
I said what I said because our slander and libels laws are a joke now thanks to Trump.