Former FBI Director James Comey is under investigation by the Secret Service after a social media(Instagram) post was alleged to be an incitement to violence against President Donald Trump. Comey posted a photo of seashells on Instagram that spelled out “8647,” which some interpreted as a threat, given that “86” can mean “to reject” or “to get rid of” and Trump is the 47th US president. The post was captioned “Cool shell formation on my beach walk”.
Comey deleted the post, stating, “I assumed [the sea shells] were a political message… I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.” He emphasized his opposition to violence, contradicting allegations made by Republicans.
Reactions and Investigations
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said, “We vigorously investigate anything that can be taken as a potential threat against our protectees. We are aware of the social media posts by the former FBI Director & we take rhetoric like this very seriously.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem alleged the message was a call for Trump’s assassination, saying, “Disgraced former FBI Director James Comey just called for the assassination of Trump”.
Current FBI Director Kash Patel responded on social media, stating, “We are aware of the recent social media post by former FBI Director James Comey, directed at President Trump. We are in communication with the Secret Service and Director Curran. Primary jurisdiction is with SS [Secret Service] on these matters and we, the FBI, will provide all necessary support.”
Backlash from Trump Supporters
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino accused Comey of “a plea to bad actors/terrorists to assassinate the POTUS while traveling internationally.” Donald Trump Jr. also responded, commenting, “James Comey causally [sic] calling for my dad to be murdered”.