A Seattle grocery store that became the target of a viral food-stamp fraud accusation is now watching its accuser walk the claim back. Nick Shirley, the right-wing influencer who posted videos in October accusing Lam's Seafood Asian Market of EBT fraud, posted a retraction Wednesday night, more than a month after his original accusations, saying he found no evidence that the store itself had committed fraud.
Shirley's reversal came after Lam's Seafood hired an attorney and sent him a cease-and-desist letter threatening legal action, according to The Seattle Times. In his retraction, Shirley wrote, “I have not uncovered any evidence that Lam's itself engaged in EBT fraud,” according to KIRO 7. He also said he did not intend to make incorrect claims that the market had engaged in fraud and announced he was taking down his prior videos.
The station reported that Shirley has since removed all posts and videos from his Seattle EBT fraud investigation that featured Lam's Seafood. Teizi Mersai, the store's operations manager, told the Times that Shirley's retraction video was posted 30 days after Lam's lawyers first contacted him.
What the Original Video Actually Showed
Shirley's video showed a person apparently trying to buy one can of lunch meat and one deli item with an EBT card for $120, and he implied Lam's had charged an excessive price, collected federal funds and paid a kickback to the woman involved. He also called for the store to be shut down and raided, per the Times' reporting.
But Shirley's correction changed a key detail: the $120 charge, he now says, was for a case of Spam rather than a single can. KIRO 7 reported that Shirley did not have the correct PIN to authorize the transaction, and the outlet noted that “his account does not establish that a fraudulent purchase was completed.” Lam's had said the woman asked in Vietnamese for a case of lunch meat rather than a single can, and the filmed sale of the lunch meat and deli item was never completed, according to the Times.
Backlash Hit Employees Before the Retraction
Shirley's videos were viewed millions of times on social media and, per Lam's management, caused a wave of backlash against the store. Customers and strangers called Lam's employees to yell and make insulting remarks, the Times reported, and Lam's Seafood told the Lynnwood Times it lost customers and received harassing calls after the video went national, garnering millions of views. Lam's has retained legal counsel to consider a lawsuit against Shirley, according to the same report. KIRO 7 separately noted the video had nearly 600,000 views when it first reported on the story.
Shirley declined to retract or withdraw his claims for roughly a month even as the pressure on the store mounted. Jonathan Choe, who helped Shirley make his initial videos, questioned on Nov. 11 whether Lam's Seafood had lied, and commentator Brandi Kruse said at the time she would be shocked if federal agents did not raid the store the following day, per the Times' account. Shirley later wrote that Lam's response to him had been “a bad mistake.”
A Pattern of Scrutiny, Without Charges
This is not the first time Lam's Seafood has drawn law enforcement attention without facing charges. In a 2025 Seattle police investigation, reports identified the store as a location where trafficking transactions occurred, but Lynnwood Times reported that “the store and its owners were not accused of wrongdoing or charged.” A separate 2014 matter involved Seattle police flagging cashiers at Lam's Seafood and a nearby market for allegedly helping customers skirt EBT rules, though that reporting likewise says owners and management were not criminally charged.
Shirley rose to prominence earlier this year after a video alleging fraud at Somali-run daycare centers in Minnesota, a story that circulated as the Trump administration sent immigration enforcement into Minneapolis. In October, Donald Trump gave Shirley a $10,000 check at an Oval Office ceremony and praised him for helping stop taxpayer fraud, according to the Times.
The Legal Backdrop to a Fast Retraction
Shirley's monthlong delay before correcting the record sits inside a specific legal window under Washington law. The state's correction statute, RCW 7.96.070, says a correction or clarification is considered timely if it is published before, or within 30 days after, receipt of a correction request, unless the parties agree in writing to extend that period. Washington defamation law generally allows a timely correction to help mitigate a defamation claim, a factor that looms over any legal action Lam's Seafood may pursue.
The article detailing Shirley's retraction, published by the Times and reported by David Gutman, lands in the paper's local news section. For Lam's Seafood, the retraction may close out the public dispute over the viral video, but the store's attorney contact and the weeks of harassment described by employees remain part of the record as any potential legal fight plays out.
