Jim Comey Sends A Message To POTUS 47: Drop Dead

James Comey, a former FBI Director, criminal lawyer, and crime novelist, recently sparked controversy with an Instagram post featuring seashells arranged to form the numbers “8647,” captioned as a “cool shell formation” from a beach walk. Critics, including Trump administration officials and supporters, interpreted the post as a coded call for the assassination of President Donald Trump, the 47th president, citing “86” as slang for “to get rid of” or, in some contexts, “to kill.” Comey swiftly deleted the post amid backlash and issued a statement claiming he was unaware that “86” could be associated with violence, asserting he assumed the shell formation was merely a “political message.” He emphasized his opposition to violence in all forms, stating, “It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
 
The Trump dominantly negative reaction from Trump’s orbit, including Donald Trump Jr., who called the post a “call for my dad to be murdered,” and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who claimed Comey was advocating for Trump’s assassination, fueled an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security and Secret Service.. Comey’s claim of ignorance about the term “86” was met with skepticism, with figures like Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Trump himself dismissing it as implausible, with Trump stating, “A child knows what that meant… that meant assassination.”. Some X users echoed this disbelief, with one asserting Comey, as a former FBI head, could not plausibly be unaware of the term’s violent connotation, labeling him a “pathological liar.”. Critics argued that Comey’s extensive law enforcement background made his claimed ignorance unlikely, intensifying calls for his arrest or prosecution..
 
However, some legal experts and free-speech advocates, like Georgetown law professor David Cole, defended Comey, arguing the post was protected speech under the First Amendment and did not meet the legal threshold for a “true threat.”. The term “86” originates from 1930s soda counter slang, meaning to remove or reject, and while it has been used sparsely to mean “to kill,” its primary usage is non-violent, such as in hospitality to indicate an item is unavailable.. Comey’s defenders, including some X users, pointed to similar uses of “86” by others, like former Rep. Matt Gaetz, to argue it was not inherently threatening, though Gaetz clarified his usage referred to past actions, not future calls to violence.. Despite Comey’s deletion of the post and clarification, the incident reignited his longstanding feud with Trump, stemming from his 2017 firing and prior investigations, ensuring the controversy remained a flashpoint in an already polarized political landscape..