A family-run grocery store in Seattle has defended itself after conservative influencer Nick Shirley accused it of committing SNAP fraud and his angry followers harassed staff with a flood of vicious calls and messages.
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followers → run → calls
Shirley made a name for himself by exposing alleged fraud at Somali-run childcare centers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and various state-funded programs in California.
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Shirley → make → California
His videos have led to law enforcement action from the Trump administration.
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videos → lead → administration
The conservative influencer recently moved his attention to Washington State.
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influencer → move → State
He posted a video to his social media profiles on Wednesday accusing Seattle grocery store Lam's Seafood Asian Market of participating in SNAP fraud.
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He → post → fraud
In the video, Shirley goes undercover and shows off a common illegal method of exchanging EBT cards for cash.
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Shirley → go → cash
He and a partner tell a woman on the street that they want to sell a card with $120 worth of SNAP benefits on it, and she offers them $60.
The woman then takes Shirley and his partner to Lam's, where she takes what Shirley refers to as a can of 'Spam' and a 'thing of sushi' to the cashier.
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Shirley → tell → cashier
It then appears that the price for the two items is $120.
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price → appear → items
In a voiceover edited into the video, Shirley said: 'And magically just like that, one can of Spam and one thing of sushi was $120.'
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can → edit → sushi
He then entered the wrong PIN for the EBT card to avoid making what he believed to be a fraudulent purchase.
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he → enter → card
The video certainly appears incriminating, but upon closer inspection, the screen at the register in Shirley's video shows that he was actually rang up for a case of the 'Spam,' or 24 cans, rather than just two items.
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he → appear → Spam
The operations manager of Lam's, Teizi Mersai, pointed to that fact and other evidence that counters Shirley's accusations in a video the grocery store posted to Instagram on Saturday.
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store → point → Saturday
Conservative influencer Nick Shirley accused Seattle grocery store Lam's Seafood Asian Market of participating in SNAP fraud by claiming the store charged $120 for one can of Spam
The store's operations manager, Teizi Mersai, said that Shirley was actually charged for a case, or 24 cans, rather than just one.
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Shirley → accuse → case
He highlighted the register's screen in Shirley's video as proof
A woman had offered Shirley cash for his EBT card before taking him to the market and requesting the case in Vietnamese.
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woman → highlight → Vietnamese
Mersai translated what she said
'That wasn’t a $120 can of SPAM.
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That → translate → SPAM
Let’s keep the SPAM in the can—and the facts straight,' the caption of the post said.
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caption → let → post
Mersai said in the video: 'We realise that EBT fraud is something that happens, and I just want to make it very clear that Lam's has never participated in any EBT trafficking or EBT fraud.'
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Lam → say → trafficking
He then corrected the items brought to the counter in Shirley's video and said the 'thing of sushi' was actually spring rolls and the 'Spam' was actually Fortune Luncheon meat, a processed meat product similar to Spam.
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Spam → correct → Spam
Mersai translated what the woman in Shirley's video said in Vietnamese when she brought the items to the register and explained that she asked for one case of the luncheon meat.
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she → translate → meat
He showed a close-up of the screen at the register, which clearly shows a charge for 24 cans.
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which → show → cans
Mersai explained that at the grocery store, customers can bring individual items to the register and ask for a case, which is then brought over from a nearby warehouse.
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which → explain → warehouse
He also showed that the cashier only bagged the spring rolls and held onto the can of luncheon meat because she had called the warehouse to bring over the case and was not selling the individual item.
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she → show → item
He further explained that the case was never brought over because the transaction was not completed after Shirley entered the wrong PIN for the EBT card.
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Shirley → explain → card
Mersai said that the cashier was holding onto the can instead of bagging it because she was waiting for the case to arrive
Mersai showed the separate warehouse where staff retrieves cases.
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staff → say → cases
He said Lam's has tried contacting Shirley multiple times but has not received a response
Mersai told the Seattle Times that Lam's had originally planned to ignore Shirley's video, but they felt compelled to respond after facing overwhelming harassment.
'It's been hellish,' Mersai said, adding that the store had been getting angry calls every 15 minutes for the previous couple of days.
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store → say → days
'We had customers calling us, we had strangers, people who aren’t customers, calling us and just yelling and saying all kinds of nasty things,' he said.
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he → have → things
On X, Shirley called for the FBI and the White House Fraud Task Force to 'raid, arrest and shutdown this fraud ring.
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FBI → call → ring
While the conservative influencer's video indeed showed a common SNAP fraud method of exchanging the benefits for cash, he also said that Lam's and other grocery stores are in on the scheme and inflate prices so that 'everyone gets paid with your tax dollars.'
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everyone → show → dollars
'Food stamps have become the new ATM for fraudsters as they partner with local businesses to commit the fraud as they trade SNAP cards like Pokémon cards on the streets,' Shirley said.
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Shirley → become → streets
Mersai said he felt compelled to respond to Shirley's video after staff at the store were constantly harassed by angry phone calls from the conservative influencer's followers
Mersai said that Lam's has tried reaching out to Shirley many times to explain they do not participate in fraud and to correct his allegations, but they have not heard back.
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they → say → allegations
Shirley has not publicly addressed the grocery store's response video as of Sunday.
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Shirley → address → Sunday
The Daily Mail has reached out to Shirley for comment.
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Mail → reach → comment
The Aporia
