Police Union Head Says Democrats Elated High-Profile Shootings Have Put Somali Fraud Accountability On Ice

A Minnesota police union leader says Democrats are happy that a focus on immigration enforcement is distracting from rampant fraud in the state.

National attention generated by the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti has put the issue of social services fraud in Minnesota on the “back burner,” Mark Ross, president of the St. Paul Police Federation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. A video suggesting fraud took place at Somali child care centers in Minnesota, posted by independent journalist Nick Shirley in December, prompted the Trump administration to pursue a more aggressive investigation into the fraud.

“I make sure there are a lot of Democrats in the state of Minnesota who are happy that this is a distraction,” Ross told the DCNF. “I thought, you know, we were getting great momentum to finally investigate and prosecute these things. Don’t let anyone in the state fool you – the governor has never focused on this.”

“It’s really disturbing to think about, how [the fraud] has gone unchecked for so long,” Ross told DCNF.

“Essentially what’s happening is this governor and his commissioners have just turned a blind eye to all of this,” he said. “It’s been very frustrating. It’s a lot of money.”

Ross previously told the New York Post that there would have been “no loss of life” if local authorities had allowed police to coordinate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche pointed out Monday on Fox News that the focus “almost went on a dime” and became “all on ICE” when there was a push to expose the fraud in December.

“In reality, what we have here is a huge underground fraud ring operating in Minneapolis, and we had a very strong pushback, a very strong pushback, when we raised our hands and said, ‘Stop,'” Blanche said. “And so, yes, we have several investigations underway. We have sent prosecutors from Main Justice. We have sent prosecutors from other U.S. attorney’s offices throughout the country. And we are making progress every day.”

🚨 BREAKING: Deputy AG @DAGToddBlanche says the anti-ICE chaos in Minneapolis is a COVER for a massive underground fraud ring.

Blanche confirms that several federal investigations are underway, with prosecutors dispatched from across the country.

“This all suddenly became an ICE issue – but… pic.twitter.com/0GCLJqk92z

-Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) February 3, 2026

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the DOJ “has been investigating this matter for months” in a December response to Shirley’s video.

“So far, we have indicted 98 people – 85 of whom are of Somali origin – and more than 60 have been found guilty in court,” she wrote on December 29 on X.

Seventy-eight people have been indicted for participating in the “Feeding Our Future” fraud scheme, which stole $250 million in federal Child Nutrition Program funds, the Justice Department announced in November. The investigation was announced under the Biden administration in 2022.

After the shooting, Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, called on federal agents to leave the state.

“Operation Metro Surge,” the immigration enforcement operation launched in December, used fraud as a pretext “to attack Democratic politicians and more aggressively and recklessly implement their immigration enforcement agenda,” Minnesota officials alleged in a Jan. 12 lawsuit against the Trump administration.

A judge refused Saturday to immediately order the removal of federal law enforcement officers.

State officials “have provided no metrics to determine when lawful law enforcement becomes unlawful requisition, arguing only that the excesses of Operation Metro Surge are so extreme that the surge crosses the line that must exist,” the judge wrote.

Some recent reports indicate that fraud cases are slowing due to immigration measures. “Changes in office personnel” prompted an assistant U.S. attorney to request a continuance in a fraud case, the Minnesota Star Tribune noted.

Joseph Thompson, a prominent prosecutor known for his interest in state fraud, was among six prosecutors who resigned in January over alleged pressure from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate Good’s wife, who was shot and killed by a federal agent, The New York Times reported on January 13. Walz called Thompson’s departure “a huge loss for our state.”

Bondi told Fox News the next day that she had indeed fired the officials. (RELATED: Tom Homan vows not to abandon immigration measures as chaos ensues in Minnesota)

“We had six prosecutors who suddenly decided they didn’t want to support the men and women of ICE. One of them was doing a photo shoot with the New York Times while ICE was risking his life,” Bondi said. “So they came, they said, we want to resign, but we want to use our annual leave until April, which means they wanted the taxpayers to pay for them to go on vacation because they decided they didn’t want to support law enforcement.”

DCNF contacted the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota and received an automated response stating that the office did not have a public information officer. The DOJ and Walz’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

CEDAR PINES, MINNESOTA – JANUARY 28: ICE agents search for someone at a home on January 28, 2026 in Circle Pines, Minnesota. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday that the state’s fraud is “far greater than the $19 billion originally projected.”

“The Biden administration knew this FRAUD was happening and did absolutely nothing to fix it,” he wrote. “The “con” Illhan Omar and his terrible Somali friends should all be in prison right now or, worse yet, sent back to Somalia.

Several federal agencies are involved in fraud investigations, including the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security.

Mille Lacs County Sheriff Kyle Burton, who participated in a Jan. 9 roundtable with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, told DCNF that federal resources are needed to combat both immigration and fraud in the state.

“Our criminal penalties in this state on how they handle [fraud] crimes of this nature are kind of a joke,” Burton said.

Trump on Wednesday named Colin McDonald to his new post as deputy attorney general for combating fraud, a position he announced in early January.

Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced charges Jan. 14 against a Medicaid provider for $3 million in fraud.

“Since I took office, my team and I have prosecuted more than 300 Medicaid fraud cases and secured more than $80 million in restitution and recoveries, and we will continue to do everything we can to protect our taxes and the services Minnesotans rely on,” Ellison said in a statement.

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