From Viral Video to Federal Occupation: How Nick Shirley Ignited the Minneapolis ICE Surge

The MAGA operative's viral video about Minneapolis daycare centers ignited the explosive situation that gave Donald Trump an excuse to launch the largest-ever ICE occupation of an American city.

Jennifer Schulze is a longtime Chicago journalist. She’s on Bluesky @newsjennifer.bsky.social. Subscribe to her Substack, Indistinct Chatter.

Illustration by Riley Levine

There is a straight line from Nick Shirley’s viral video about alleged fraud at Somali-run daycare centers in Minneapolis to the shooting death of 37-year Renee Good. He didn’t pull the …