On Dec. 16, 2025, security footage shows various people throughout the day dropping off young children at the state-licensed ABC Learning Center in Minneapolis. That same day, YouTuber Nick Shirley arrived and claimed that the day care was among many in Minnesota that were empty.

In Shirley’s video, which X reports has more than 116 million views, the rightwing influencer visits various day cares, including the ABC Learning Center. The video asserts that the day care is always empty.

On the day Shirley came to the center, the time stamps on the day care’s security tapes show that he arrived around noon. WCCO reviewed security footage showing families evidently arriving to drop off their children earlier that morning and later in the afternoon.

When Shirley knocked on the door, he seemed to fabricate a reason for being there, asking to check a child into the day care. A staff member responds verbally but doesn’t let him in; Hasan said that they can’t allow strangers into an active day care. In addition, he said that Shirley had a team of up to eight people with him. Some were masked, according to Hasan, which set off alarm bells for his staff members, given recent ICE activity.

CBS News conducted its own analysis of nearly a dozen day care centers mentioned by Shirley: all but two have active licenses, according to state records, and all active locations were visited by state regulators within the last six months.

        • tehn00bi@lemmy.world
          9·
          8 days ago

          In the early days of the printing press, false information was everywhere, over time editors came around and developed checks and balances that significantly limited false informations reach. The internet came around and, for a time, the crazy’s were relegated to fringes like special forums. Then along comes social media and the engagement / en-ragement machine was born and now we are dealing with assholes gaming the system built to spread bad ideas like a virus. So yeah, fuck’em and start to twist the balls of those holding all the bull horns screaming in your face.

          • Flic@mstdn.social
            8·
            8 days ago

            @tehn00bi @Drusas always seemed like a bad road when Facebook et al managed to convince governments everywhere not to treat them like publishers in legislation. They choose what stories people see, and make money off people seeing them. What’s a publisher again?!
            My local newsagent is subject to more laws about where they put the porn mags and display cigarettes than social media platforms are about who they show extremist content to.