CBS News Reporter Blames Nick Shirley For Anti-ICE Riots

A CBS reporter claimed Tuesday that independent journalist Nick Shirley’s expose on alleged fraud at Somali-run day care centers was to blame for the violent clashes between federal law enforcement officers and left-wing rioters.

Shirley posted a 42-minute video to YouTube on Dec. 26, featuring him visiting several day care centers run by Somalis that allegedly committed fraud. CBS News national correspondent Lilia Luciano claimed that Shirley’s videos prompted the federal crackdown on the fraud that triggered confrontations between left-wing mobs opposed to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations and the federal officers.

“But the controversy exploded on December 26th when a conservative influencer released a now viral YouTube video claiming to expose the public fraud,” Luciano claimed, later adding. “By January 5th, some 2,000 additional federal immigration agents were being deployed to the Twin Cities, its biggest operation yet. Two days later, Renee Good was killed, setting off major protests.”

President Donald Trump declared an end to “Temporary Protected Status” for Somalis on Nov. 22, days after City Journal published a report detailing significant welfare fraud in Minnesota, which some federal officials estimate to total at least $9 billion. Trump also ordered the deployment of additional federal assets to the state for a crackdown, prompting local officials like Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis to declare they would not cooperate with the federal law enforcement operations.

So-called “rapid response” groups have confronted ICE during operations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, including during the incidents where Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good were fatally shot, triggering riots. Pretti’s neighbors told the Mirror he was involved with an anti-ICE network, while former MSNBC host Joy Reid admitted Good was an “ICE interrupter.”

Pretti suffered a broken rib during a previous confrontation with ICE in the days before his fatal encounter, CNN reported.

One such “rapid response” group in Minnesota has been monitoring vehicles used by ICE, sharing their locations, and calling for people to confront the agents, which has often resulted in physical altercations, Fox News reported. A copy of a manual apparently used by a “rapid response” network was obtained by independent journalist Cam Higby, who posted it on X Sunday night.