A conspiracy theory circulating in right-wing circles claims that a former FBI director posted an assassination threat against Donald Trump – using nothing more but seashells.
James Comey, who was appointed by Barack Obama and then fired by the Trumpduring his first term in 2017, shared an arrangement of shells that spelled out ‘8647’ on Instagram.
The picture was accompanied by a seemingly-innocent caption, ‘Cool shell formation on my beach walk’.
This is what landed Comey in hot water. Among some Trump supporters, 8647 is interpreted as a threat on his life.
It is also not only die-hard Trump loyalists pushing the conspiracy theory – even Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem echoed the claim.
She wrote on X: ‘Disgraced former FBI director James Comey just called for the assassination of Trump.’
(Picture: Getty)
She said Homeland Security and the Secret Service are ‘investigating this threat and will respond appropriately.’
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also told Fox News that she does not believe Comey could be unaware of the interpretation of 8647 ‘as violent.’
‘James Comey in my view should be held accountable and put behind bars for this,’ she said.
Has Trump reacted to Comey’s post?
The president himself has not reacted to Comey’s post, but one of his sons did.
Donald Trump Jr posted on X: ‘Just James Comey causally calling for my dad to be murdered. This is who the Dem-Media worships. Demented!!!!’
The former FBI director later took down the post, releasing another one, saying that he was unaware the apparent political message could have been associated with violence.
He said: ‘I did not realise 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.’
The Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the president, said it was aware of Comey’s post but did not assess its meaning.
What does 8647 mean?
In US parlance the number 86 can be used as a verb, meaning to throw somebody out of a bar for being drunk or disorderly.
Meanwhile, 47 is code for Trump – the 47th president.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says on its website that a recent meaning of the term was ‘to kill’ but that it had not adopted that ‘due to its relative recency and sparseness of use.’
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