Flanagan’s Viral Hijab Video Features a Friend Whose Autism Center Is Under State Investigation.
In December, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D-MN) went on Somali TV wearing a hijab, standing beside a friend of nearly 25 years, and told viewers that “the Somali community is part of the fabric of the state of Minnesota.” The clip went viral, and Flanagan, then in a three-way Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat, spent weeks defending it.
The woman beside her was Nimco Ahmed, a longtime DFL activist and CEO of the Milestone Development Center, a Minnesota autism program. On Sept. 18, Alpha News reported that the Minnesota Department of Human Services has open investigations into Milestone and a second center, Spectrum Therapy Center, and has terminated both from Medicaid.
No one has been charged. Ahmed denies wrongdoing. But the friendship is now a fact in a race where the Republican nominee is running on state fraud, and Flanagan has been lieutenant governor since 2019.
- ~25 years Flanagan's own description of her friendship with Ahmed — Alpha News
- 2 centers Milestone and Spectrum, both under open DHS investigation and terminated from Medicaid; both have appealed — Alpha News, DHS statement
- $18 billion in Medicaid claims across 14 Minnesota programs since 2018, half or more of it possibly fraudulent, per a federal prosecutor — KARE 11, Minnesota Reformer
- $6M to $343M growth in Minnesota autism-program spending, 2018 to 2024 — Townhall
The footage aired on SomaliTV Minnesota around Christmas 2025 and shows Flanagan touring the Karmel Somali market, greeting viewers with “Salam alaikum” and urging support for Somali-owned businesses. Flanagan identifies as Catholic; her campaign says she was “handed a scarf by a friend and briefly wore it out of respect.”
Her spokesperson, Alexandra Fetissoff, told Fox News Digital that the real outrage “should not be a scarf, but masked men throwing American citizens into vans,” a reference to federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) called the appearance a “stunt.” Republican Senate hopeful David Hann demanded she apologize and pull the video.
The backdrop mattered. The appearance came as federal prosecutors were describing the Feeding Our Future case, in which, per Fox News Digital, 78 people were charged over roughly $250 million in fraudulent claims, and as they were widening the lens to Minnesota’s Medicaid programs.
Ahmed is CEO of Milestone Development Center, a former DFL state director, and president of the Somali American Coalition, per Townhall. Alpha News’s Sept. 18 exclusive rests on Grant Morgan, a former therapist who worked at Milestone from October to December 2023 and, Alpha News reported, about two years across Milestone and Spectrum combined. He called both “fraudulent autism centers.”
“I did not see a QSP or a BCBA at all when I worked there.”
Grant Morgan, former Milestone therapist · Townhall, Sept. 21, 2026
A QSP is a qualified supervising professional and a BCBA a board-certified behavior analyst, the credentialed overseers Minnesota’s autism benefit expects. Morgan also said he saw practitioners who appeared unqualified, was never asked for session notes, and observed clients who did not appear autistic. “I saw red flags as far as the possibility that there may have been billing fraud,” he said.
DHS confirmed both centers are under investigation, telling Alpha News they are “on our radar.” It said it cannot disclose details, and that several months ago it terminated both from Medicaid through Revalidate 2026, a credential-and-compliance review. Alpha News reported that neither center received a provisional license under the state’s new requirements. Both appealed. Ahmed called questions about care “bias,” tied the scrutiny to her Somali background, and said Milestone “follows state requirements and is regularly audited.”
The autism benefit at issue, Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI), is already a federal fraud target. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said in December that Minnesota’s Medicaid programs billed $18 billion across 14 programs since 2018 and that a “significant portion,” possibly “half or more,” could be fraudulent; the U.S. Attorney’s office has said the fraud likely exceeds $9 billion.
On Dec. 18, AG Keith Ellison (D-MN) joined federal partners in announcing indictments of Housing Stabilization Services and EIDBI providers. One EIDBI defendant, prosecutors said, paid kickbacks to parents to have children diagnosed with autism and collected more than $6 million; a separate provider who pleaded guilty billed for millions more than the state had approved, CBS Minnesota reported.
Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) is the governor whose Department of Human Services oversees these programs.
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D-MN) has served as his second-in-command since 2019 and is the Democratic Senate nominee.
AG Keith Ellison (D-MN) co-announced the December indictments.
Nothing in the reporting ties Milestone or Spectrum to those indictments. The relevance is the program: a benefit whose spending grew from $6 million in 2018 to $343 million in 2024, according to Townhall, and whose providers the state is now re-vetting one by one.
Flanagan has described Ahmed as a friend “for almost 25 years.” Alpha News said it asked her for comment on the investigation and received none. That is the fair extent of the record: she has not been accused of anything, and a friendship is not evidence of knowledge. What is fair to ask is the question her opponent is asking of the whole administration.
EXCLUSIVE: Former therapist slams 'fraudulent autism centers' in Minnesota, including one run by Flanagan's 'friend'. Peggy Flanagan said she's been 'friends for almost 25 years' with Nimco Ahmed. Now, DHS confirms an autism center operated by Ahmed is under investigation.
Peggy Flanagan is wearing a hijab to out-woke her competition for Senate in Minnesota. Meanwhile, her state is being rocked by a multi-billion dollar Somali fraud scheme. Liberalism will never make sense.
Flanagan won the Aug. 11 DFL primary over Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), who had tried to tie her to state fraud. She now faces Republican Michele Tafoya for the seat of retiring Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN). Tafoya’s line is direct: Flanagan “has spent eight years as lieutenant governor in the Walz administration, yet now wants Minnesotans to believe she had nothing to do with its failures.”
The DHS investigation of Ahmed’s centers may end in charges, in a reinstated license, or in nothing public at all. The hijab video, meanwhile, now carries a second story, because the woman standing next to Flanagan in it is at the center of a question about how Minnesota vets the providers it pays.
Peggy Flanagan (D-MN), now the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, wore a hijab beside Nimco Ahmed, a friend of almost 25 years, in a December video. Minnesota’s Department of Human Services has confirmed open investigations into Ahmed’s Milestone Development Center and a second autism center and has terminated both from Medicaid; both have appealed. A former therapist alleges fraud, Ahmed denies it, and no charges have been filed. Flanagan is not accused of wrongdoing and did not respond to Alpha News, in a state where federal prosecutors say a significant portion of $18 billion in Medicaid claims may be fraudulent.
