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Earlier this afternoon, DMV Hoodz And Newz tweeted a video of fish drying on strings outside of Wings N’ More Wings on 1839 Benning Road NE. On the video, a narrator says: “This is the exact reason I don’t eat carryout. This is Wings N’ More Wings on Benning Road and 19th Street NE. Why the fuck these motherfuckers out here drying fish outside?” 

In the tweet, DMV Hoodz And Newz, a Youtube channel with 21,246 subscribers, called the fish “DISGUSTING” and asked Twitter users to retweet and “spread the word.” At the time of publishing, the tweet has been retweeted close to 300 times and the video (below) has more than 10,000 views.

DMV Hoodz Nd Newz did not initially respond to City Paper’s request for comment. Tonight at 10 p.m., they relayed that they plucked the video from the Instagram handle @percy.niece. 

Reached by phone, Lin from Wings N’ More Wings explains that they were drying the fish for personal consumption for the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday, which falls on Feb. 5. “I don’t sell the fish to customers,” Lin says. “The neighbors complained so we put them in the trash already.” 

Lin says this is the first year they decided to prepare the dried fish for family. Fish are commonly consumed during Chinese New Year because eating them is said to usher in prosperity. The owners confirm that they have seen the video and say they believe a neighbor filmed it.

Wings ‘N More Wings serves egg drop soup, wings with mumbo sauce, and cheesesteaks. 

At least one Twitter user said they contacted D.C. Department of Health in regards to the drying fish after watching the video online. DOH’s Program Manager for Food Safety and Hygiene Inspection Services Division confirms they are sending an inspector to investigate. 

Wings N’ More Wings currently has an above-average score of 85 percent on HD Scores, which pulls data from DOH based on violations tallied during regular inspections. Its last inspection was in Jan. 2018.

This post has been updated.