ICE Claims Politico Reporter Josh Gerstein Is ‘Inciting Violence Against Federal Agents’ on X

23-year-old conservative journalist Nick Shirley during last week’s attempt to uncover suspected fraud in MN. (Screenshot)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has accused Politico’s Josh Gerstein of “inciting violence against federal agents” after he questioned the efficacy of “the amateur effort to knock on doors of home daycares” amid the federal investigation into suspected fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs.

“At some point, the amateur effort to knock on doors of home daycares intersects with robust stand-your-ground laws,” wrote Gerstein,  a senior legal affairs reporter for Politico, posted to X on Monday.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the stand-your-ground law “allows individuals to ‘hold their ground’ and use deadly force to protect or defend against imminent threat of death” in their home and in “any place where a person has a ‘legal right to be.'” However, in Minnesota, while the use of force in self-defense is legal inside one’s home, individuals must retreat before using force in public.

“You would think a ‘Senior Legal Affairs Reporter’ for POLITICO would know better than to tweet something inciting violence against federal agents,” ICE’s official X account responded to Gerstein on Tuesday.

This back-and-forth all stems from an amateur investigation by Nick Shirley, a 23-year-old conservative journalist with little public profile before his viral posts last week.

In his videos, Shirley and a local activist visit sites described as federally funded childcare facilities, claiming they were operating without children present.

The videos have been promoted by prominent MAGA-aligned voices like SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Vice President JD Vance, and FBI Director Kash Patel as evidence of widespread misuse of government assistance in Minnesota — allegations that critics argue unfairly target the state’s Somali community and rely on unverified claims.

According to a Monday post from Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Justice Department has “charged 98 individuals – 85 of Somali descent” in their Minnesota investigation thus far.

“To observe that something is likely to happen or there’s a serious risk of it happening is not to advocate for it happening,” tweeted Gerstein later on Tuesday in response to the backlash surrounding his first post.