Former Minnesota Vikings captain Jack Brewer has harshly criticized Minneapolis over its handling of alleged welfare fraud, calling the city a “complete free-for-all.” His comments came after the FBI executed 22 federal search warrants across more than 20 locations in Minnesota, including childcare facilities, as part of a fraud investigation into largely Somali-owned businesses.
Brewer, who served as a special teams player and team captain for the Vikings, says he witnessed the alleged corruption firsthand during his playing career. He previously told Fox News Digital that he saw alleged Somali fraudsters buying luxury sports cars at that time. Now, with the FBI taking action, he says Americans should be celebrating.
“Americans should celebrate today. Finally, we have an FBI that is actually sticking up for the poor in this country and stopping this corruption that’s happening in Minneapolis and the surrounding areas, where they’re robbing, literally robbing, the orphan, the widow, and those in poverty,” Brewer said, according to Fox News.
Minnesota’s welfare system has long been vulnerable to large-scale fraud networks
Brewer credited FBI Director Kash Patel and the federal government for stepping in, arguing that the state would not act on its own. “Minnesota will not police itself,” he said. The raids focused on childcare businesses that had registered with the state but were allegedly billing for care that was never provided. Some Republicans have gone further, with calls to revoke citizenship of Somalis involved in fraud growing louder in recent weeks.
Brewer was particularly sharp in his criticism of those running the alleged schemes. “They get into these networks and pass it on amongst each other – how to steal from the U.S. government and how to exploit the very people those programs were created to help. Those people are gross. They are robbing the people who need help the most and turning suffering into their own personal business model,” he said.
He also pointed to what he sees as a structural weakness in Minnesota that makes it an easy target. “Minnesota is one of the most fatherless places in America, particularly because 28% of their households are single-family households, the vast majority being single moms. Minnesota is literally vulnerable to these schemes from all of these folks who have figured out how to manipulate the system, and they’ve created industries of corruption,” Brewer said.
Minnesota has faced fraud scrutiny for years. The state was at the center of a massive $300 million pandemic fraud case involving the nonprofit Feeding Our Future. In 2022, during the Biden administration, 47 people were charged in connection with that case.
As of December, 57 people have been convicted, either through guilty pleas or trial losses, with most defendants being of Somali descent. Meanwhile, Trump’s remarks targeting Ilhan Omar and immigrants have added further tension to the broader political debate around this issue.
Brewer did not hold back when describing the overall situation in Minneapolis. “It is a complete free-for-all,” he said. “What can you do to actually go to jail in Minnesota? If you look at it, they have some of the shortest prison sentences, they let people right out of jail, and it becomes a free-for-all. It is a complete free-for-all.” He closed by saying, “Thank God Kash Patel and the federal government are stepping in, because they are the only ones who will even attempt to police this place.”
Published: Apr 29, 2026 12:45 pm