Tag: washington

Washington State AG Warns Citizen Journalists to Stop Investigating Somali Daycares or Face Potential Hate Crime Charges

The Washington state attorney general released a statement on X Tuesday evening warning independent journalists to stop investigating fraudulent Somali daycare centers or they could be charged with a hate crime.

“My office has received outreach from members of the Somali community after reports of home-based daycare providers being harassed and accused of fraud with little to no fact-checking,” State AG Nick Brown stated. “We are in touch with the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families regarding the claims being pushed online and the harassment reported by daycare providers. Showing up on someone’s porch, threatening, or harassing them isn’t an investigation. Neither is filming minors who may be in the home. This is unsafe and potentially dangerous behavior.”

Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil rights, issued a warning of her own in reaction to the Washington state AG’s post.

“ANY state official who chills or threatens to chill a journalist’s 1A rights will have some ‘splainin to do,” she wrote on X, Wednesday morning. “[The DOJ Civil Rights Division] takes potential violations of 18 USC § 242 seriously!” Dhillon added.

This statute, known as the Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law, makes it a crime for any person acting under the pretense of law to willfully deprive another individual of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States.

The clash of the AGs came after Youtuber Nick Shirley exposed about a dozen Somali-owned, state-funded childcare facilities in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that appeared to be completely deserted.

Shirley produced a 42-minute video, which has been viewed over 131 million times on X since it was posted on December 26,  alleging that Minnesota governor Tim Walz (D.) “knew about the fraud but never reported it.”

Inspired by Shirley’s bombshell report, citizen journalists in multiple states with large Somali populations have launched their own investigations in recent days.

In the Kent, Washington area Tuesday, YouTuber Chris Sims, a self-described “gonzo journalist,” visited seven suspicious Somali childcare sites and reported that they were “very unhappy” to see him.

Sims posted a video of him approaching a private home listed as a childcare facility that appeared to be not as advertised.

“There was no sign of kids or being a Daycare facility,” Sims wrote. “I was told by a few they weren’t Daycares despite receiving tax payer dollars. One yelled ‘Call the police’ behind the door.”

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Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown Appears to Threaten Journalists for Investigating Somali Fraud

As allegations of fraud in the form of Somali daycare centers is exploding, now across the country and not just in Minnesota, people on the left are rushing to defend the fraudsters.

In Washington State, Attorney General Nick Brown, put out a statement on Twitter/X that sounds like a threat to any independent journalists who might look into it.

Brown wrote:

My office has received outreach from members of the Somali community after reports of home-based daycare providers being harassed and accused of fraud with little to no fact-checking.

We are in touch with the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families regarding the claims being pushed online and the harassment reported by daycare providers.

Showing up on someone’s porch, threatening, or harassing them isn’t an investigation. Neither is filming minors who may be in the home. This is unsafe and potentially dangerous behavior. I encourage anyone experiencing threats or harassment to either contact local law enforcement or our office’s Hate Crimes & Bias Incident Hotline at 1-855-225-1010 or http://atg.wa.gov/report-hate.

If you think fraud is happening, there are appropriate measures to report and investigate. Go to DCYF’s website to learn more. And where fraud is substantiated and verified by law enforcement and regulatory agencies, people should be held accountable.

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Dem lawmaker moves to conceal WA state daycare provider info amid Somali fraud allegations

As independent journalists continue digging into alleged fraud inside Washington’s daycare subsidy system, Democratic State Senator Lisa Wellman has pre-filed legislation that critics say could make it significantly harder for the public to verify whether taxpayer-funded childcare operations even exist.

The proposal, Senate Bill 5926, was pre-filed on December 22 and expands public records exemptions for childcare providers, shielding a broad range of identifying information from disclosure. Supporters frame the measure as a safety tool designed to protect providers from harassment or threats. Opponents argue it is arriving just as journalists are using public data to uncover suspicious daycare listings tied to large sums of taxpayer funding.

SB 5926 comes as independent journalists, inspired by Nick Shirley’s exposure of daycare fraud in Minnesota, have been scouring government websites to find similar fraud across the US. Additionally, Wellman was one of the primary sponsors of the Keep Washington Working Act, the bill that made Washington a so-called “sanctuary state,” and critics of the bill suggest her new legislation is an attempt to shield illegal immigrants from federal authorities.

In the bill’s legislative findings, lawmakers acknowledge that existing confidentiality provisions apply most clearly to licensed family home childcare providers but argue that the same risks now extend to childcare workers in centers and other settings. The bill seeks to widen protections statewide by restricting the disclosure of “personal information” for anyone licensed or certified by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families to provide childcare.

Under the legislation, exempt information would include a wide range of details that could identify a provider or location, such as a person’s name, home address, GPS coordinates, personal phone number, personal email address, date of birth, emergency contact information, and other personally identifying information. It also covers sensitive identifiers like Social Security and taxpayer identification numbers, driver’s license numbers, and financial information such as bank account and direct deposit details. The bill does not limit these protections to home daycare operators; instead, it extends them to licensed family home providers, licensed childcare centers, school-age or out-of-school-time programs, and essentially any location licensed or certified through DCYF.

The bill contains language specifying that certain program-level information must remain public, such as business addresses, program capacity, licensing status, inspection results, and public safety findings required by state or federal law. Yet critics say this limitation provides little comfort, because the current dispute centers on whether state records and publicly available listings are reliable enough to begin with. Watchdogs argue that if the government database contains discrepancies, missing location details, or inconsistent licensing information, the only way for journalists and taxpayers to validate the entries is through independent verification, and restricting identifying information could make those efforts far more difficult.

The bill is also landing amid an intensifying political confrontation between Washington officials and independent journalists who say they are uncovering early warning signs of a subsidy scandal similar to one previously exposed in Minnesota. This week, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown issued a warning aimed squarely at independent journalists, accusing them of harassing daycare providers and engaging in unsafe conduct. Brown said his office had received outreach from members of the Somali community after reports of home-based daycare providers being “harassed and accused of fraud with little to no fact-checking.” He said his office is coordinating with DCYF to evaluate the fraud claims circulating online as well as the reported harassment, and urged anyone contacted by journalists to contact local law enforcement or report incidents to state hotlines and reporting websites.

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Washington Democrats Sponsor Bill to Slash Penalties for Pedophiles Snared in Online Sting Operations

Four Democratic Washington State Senators are pushing legislation to reduce penalties for individuals busted during sting operations for attempting to sexually abuse children.

The bill, Senate Bill 5312, sponsored by Sens. Lisa Wellman, Noel Frame, T’wina Nobles, and Claire Wilson, aims to shorten sex offender registration and post-release supervision for first-time offenders involved in stings where law enforcement poses as fictitious minors.

The proposal comes on the heels of a November vote by the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission, which recommended lighter sentences for such offenders.

The commission’s decision mirrors SB 5312, advocating for alternatives to incarceration for crimes with “no identifiable victim,” citing lower recidivism rates among those convicted in stings compared to offenders who target real children.

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Deranged Serial Assaulter Who Stabbed Elderly Seattle Woman in the Eye with Wooden Club Identifies as Transgender

The monster who stabbed an elderly Seattle woman in the eye identifies as transgender.

As previously reported, a 75-year-old woman lost her eye after she was brutally attacked by a serial assaulter who has a history of punching and stabbing people.

42-year-old Fale Vaigalepa Pea hit Jeanette Marken in the face with a wooden club with a screw through the end of the plank as she was standing on a street corner in downtown Seattle after picking up a food order earlier this month.

Surveillance footage shows Pea approached Marken and swung the wooden club with full force at her face.

Bystanders rushed to Marken after she hit the ground. She was rushed to a nearby hospital and treated for her facial injuries.

Family members told KOMO News that Marken lost eyesight in the damaged eye.

Pea has a long rap sheet and has been booked eight times this year for assault, indecent exposure, unlawful use of weapons, malicious mischief, drugs, and property destruction, according to KOMO.

Pea was arrested in 2011 for stabbing two people, one of the victims 8 times, but he was only sentenced to 18 months of community custody.

The officer who detained Pea spoke to another officer, who nonchalantly said the assaulter is known for randomly punching people.

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COURTROOM CHAOS: Purple-haired Seattle female attorney DEMANDS judge sanction opposing male counsel for ‘gender misconduct’ during CHOP trial

Chaos erupted in a King County courtroom on Thursday during the high-profile Mays v. City of Seattle wrongful death trial, as city attorney Alexandra Nica launched into a furious tirade, accusing opposing counsel Evan Oshan of “gender discrimination and harassment.” The outburst came on the heels of devastating expert testimony that painted Seattle’s handling of the infamous 2020 CHAZ/CHOP zone as liable for the June 2020 “agonizing” death of Antonio Mays Jr., a black teenager from California shot several times in the protest zone.

As the testimony piled up against Seattle, Nica appeared increasingly unhinged. In an emotional rant without jurors present, she complained that Oshan refuses to speak to her, turns his chair away, and ignores her questions—insisting this “only happens to me” because she’s a woman. She demanded that Judge Sean O’Donnell enforce prior sanctions against Oshan for alleged “gender conduct.” But Oshan wasn’t having it and flipped the script. He shot back, exposing Nica’s own hypocritical attacks: “Throughout this litigation, Ms. Nica has attacked me on the basis of my gender. She has called me a ‘mansplainer’ multiple times in court documents…She called me a ‘boar.'”

Oshan, a father and husband, took personal offense, accusing Nica of “weaponizing” gender against him in “textbook harassment.” In return, he requested Judge O’Donnell impose new sanctions against the visibly irate Nica. The judge, clearly annoyed, deferred rulings to written briefs, prioritizing the jury and witnesses over the attorneys’ personal drama.

Nica, dressed in red, displayed an intense demeanor while Oshan stood firm. The exchange devolved into interruptions and accusations, with Nica at one point snapping about Oshan describing her as having a “temper tantrum.” One observer wrote on social media: “This is the most Seattle thing ever.”

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Infuriating: Illegal Alien Truck Driver Who Killed Loving Young Father in Deadly Crash in Washington State is Released from Jail

A reckless illegal alien truck driver who stole the life of a productive and loving U.S. citizen has received a get-out-of-jail card despite his horrific act.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, 25-year-old Kamalpreet Singh killed a 29-year-old father on the morning of December 11 after he crushed the victim’s vehicle between two trucks while driving northbound on SR 167. The victim was later identified as Robert B. Pearson of Bonney Lake.

Here is more on the incident from The Auburn Examiner:

Troopers said three vehicles were traveling in lane one when two of them stopped for traffic, and a third failed to slow in time.

According to the State Patrol, a 2020 Freightliner Cascadia semi driven by 25-year-old Kamalpreet Singh of Elk Grove, California struck the rear of a blue 2010 Mazda 3 sedan that had stopped behind a white 2016 Peterbilt truck. The Freightliner overrode the back of the Mazda and pushed it under the rear of the Peterbilt.

Troopers said the engine compartment of the Mazda caught fire after the impact, but the flames were quickly extinguished. The Freightliner and Mazda came to rest in the left lane and the Peterbilt on the right shoulder.

TGP notes that Singh likely obtained his CDL in California, since he resided there. He is facing a vehicular homicide charge.

Singh first illegally entered the US in Lukeville, Arizona, in December 2023 and was released by Biden’s border patrol.

Singh is not believed to have any relation to two other Indian illegal alien truck drivers with the same last name who are facing their own charges for killing people in crashes in CA (Jashanpreet Singh) and FL (Harjinder Singh).

ICE placed a detainer on him with local law enforcement in King County.

Now, a so-called judge has decided Singh poses no threat to the public and has been released from King County Correctional Facility.

His bond was set at $100,000.

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Washington swim league finds workaround to keep boys competing in girls’ events

A Washington swim league says it has found a procedural workaround it believes will let meets continue under USA Swimming rules while still complying with Washington’s gender-identity laws, effectively allowing athletes to compete based on self-identification, which means boys can keep entering girls’ events despite President Trump’s executive order aimed at keeping men out of women’s sports.

In a November email obtained by The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, Chad Winkle, general chair of Pacific Northwest Swimming (PNS), warned parents, athletes, coaches, and officials about “issues” affecting PNS’s ability to host meets in Washington, including in King County and at the King County Aquatic Center. Winkle explained that after Executive Order 14201 was signed in February 2025, requiring federal definitions of sex to be based on male and female, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee adopted corresponding policies. Under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, he said, USA Swimming was required to align with those standards, and as a local swimming committee, PNS is bound by USA Swimming rules.

But Winkle said those federal standards conflict with Washington State law and King County ordinances that prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. He told members PNS had been working with USA Swimming, King County, and legal counsel to find a path forward that would allow meets to continue at the local level, though it might not apply to higher-level competitions. PNS also urged families not to contact outside organizations, warning that public pressure could disrupt negotiations.

On Dec. 2, Winkle announced in a follow-up email that PNS had reached “common ground” with King County and USA Swimming. The solution, he wrote, was to shift all PNS competitions to “Approved” meet status. That would keep USA Swimming technical rules intact, so times for athletes in good standing could still be entered into the SWIMS database and meets could remain properly insured, while changing the administrative side to satisfy Washington law.

The new approach “allows athletes to compete as they self-identify,” which continues to allow male athletes to compete in girls’ sports. Winkle said the PNS board voted to run meets this way through the end of January, when the policy will be reviewed again. He emphasized that PNS “is not the decider on this topic,” describing the organization as a facilitator operating within the demands of state law, county law, and USA Swimming regulations.

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Trantifa city councilor Lucy Lauser seeks dismissal of indecent exposure charges as defense attorney argues males are not prosecuted for going topless

A defense attorney for a Washington state lawmaker has filed a motion to dismiss a case involving indecent exposure charges against his client, transgender Stevenson city councilor Lucy Lauser. Lauser, who is actively involved with Antifa networks, is accused of unlawfully exposing his “breasts” during an anti-Trump protest in July. Lauser is a man who identifies as a woman.

Skamania District Court Judge Ronald H. Reynier presided over oral arguments on Monday concerning the Knapstad motion to dismiss, which mandates that the prosecution and defense agree on all facts of the case in order for it to be prosecuted.

“My client was protesting the current presidential administration’s Executive Order, which basically put in place that under federal law that there are two genders, and that…every person is the gender that they were assigned at birth,” defense attorney Brian Pruett told the judge, according to Upliftlocal. “That’s highly offensive to my client, and as a result, on the Fourth of July…[she] chose to protest in a way that clearly addresses that issue.”

Lauser’s legal troubles stem from a July 4, 2025, protest outside the Skamania County Courthouse in downtown Stevenson, a small community of about 1,500 residents. During the demonstration, Lauser exposed his breasts by removing his shirt. He had painted one arm red, taped his mouth and nipples in black, and inscribed “woman, life, freedom” across his chest. The topless display was intended to challenge President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting sex change procedures for minors and barring men from competing on women’s sports teams, which Lauser has publicly decried as dehumanizing. 

Skamania County deputy prosecuting attorney Elise Howard argued to the judge that the councilor’s conduct was against the law, and referred to Lauser with female pronouns during the proceedings.

“Because Ms. Lauser’s protest was non-verbal and the message was unlikely to be understood by those who viewed her conduct…it can be analyzed as mere conduct and not protected speech and is thus easily found to be obscene,” Howard wrote in a court filing, asking the judge to “find that there is at least a possibility that a reasonable juror” could make the same judgment.

“The law,” she added, “is ambiguous, and when there is an ambiguity such as that, it’s our duty to prosecute and bring that question before the court.”

Shortly after his arrest, Lauser told reporters, “I couldn’t think of a better method of protesting the president calling me a man than taking off my shirt and getting arrested for it.”

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Seattle’s socialist mayoral candidate wants leftist media outlets to be state-funded

Seattle’s socialist mayoral candidate Katie Wilson, who has been nicknamed the “Mini Mamdani,” has raised concerns among critics about conflicts of interest and government overreach, this time over her plan to tax residents to subsidize media outlets that support her campaign and employ her.

In a recent interview on the Mostly Economics podcast, Wilson promoted a proposal she calls “News Notes”: a taxpayer-funded voucher program that would give every Seattle resident $100 to donate to local media outlets, to save failing outlets from the free market. To pay for it, she floated new property taxes, a capital gains tax, or a digital ad tax.

But the outlets she specifically named as beneficiaries, The Urbanist, Publicola, and South Seattle Emerald, are the same ones that routinely promote her political agenda. Many of them have endorsed her. Some have even paid her.

Wilson lists income from The Stranger, The Urbanist, and Publicola in her PDC filings, each below $30,000 annually, while all three also endorse her for mayor. These aren’t neutral newspapers. They’re progressive advocacy media that cheerlead for every new tax, anti-police measure, and socialist policy put forward in Seattle.

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