Why Donald Trump Believes James Comey's Seashell Picture Was a Threat

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Key Points

Former FBI director James Comey posted an image showing seashells arranged to form the number 8647 on social media.
Supporters of Trump claimed these numbers represented a coded call for Trump’s removal from office.
Comey removed the post, stating: “It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down.”

Former FBI director James Comey has met with the U.S. Secret Service after Trump’s supporters alleged a social media post of his was a threat to the former president.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem mentioned in a social media post that there is “an ongoing investigation,” but did not reveal if Comey might face any further actions.

The Secret Service, tasked with presidential protection and part of the Department of Homeland Security, interviewed Comey at the Washington field office on Saturday, according to an anonymous law enforcement source.

The meeting reportedly lasted about an hour, according to the source.

Comey appeared voluntarily after being asked to come in, the source said.

Federal agencies were investigating an Instagram post shared by Comey on Thursday, featuring a photo where seashells spelled out the number 8647 on the beach, captioned as “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”

What does 8647 mean?

In American slang, the number 86 can be used as a verb meaning to remove something or someone.

It’s typically used in restaurants and bars, and can be applied to menu items that are no longer available or patrons that should be refused service or thrown out for being drunk or disorderly.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says on its website that one recent meaning of the term 86 was “to kill”, but that it had not adopted it “due to its relative recency and sparseness of use”.

Trump is the 47th president of the United States.

Put together, some Trump supporters interpreted the message as a call to violently remove Trump from office, including through assassination.

A man in a dark blue suit, light blue shirt and red tie. His hand is raised.

James Comey said he took the post down as he “opposes violence of any kind”. Source: AAP / Michael Reynolds/EPA

Comey, who was fired by Trump in 2017, took down the post after a backlash from Trump supporters, saying on Instagram: “It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”

The numbers ‘8647’ and ‘8646’ have been utilized as political slogans and appeared on T-shirts during both Trump’s and his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden’s, presidencies.

‘Knew exactly what he meant’

Trump himself accused Comey of calling for his assassination on Friday, rejecting the former FBI director’s explanation that he was not aware of any violent connotation.

“He knew exactly what that meant,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News before leaving Abu Dhabi while on a four-day Middle East trip, adding that he would leave further action on the matter to attorney-general Pam Bondi and others.

Trump fired Comey early in the US president’s first term. As FBI director, Comey had been leading an investigation into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign’s possible collusion with Russia.

Comey has been a sharp critic of his former boss, calling him “morally unfit” to lead in a 2018 interview.

Trump himself was accused of using Twitter posts to incite rioters, who attacked the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, to prevent the certification of Biden’s election victory.

Last year, Trump also posted on social media a video that featured an image of Biden, who was then president, with his hands and feet tied together in the back of a pickup truck.

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