Reasons behind Donald Trump's belief that James Comey's seashell picture was a threat to his life

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Former FBI director James Comey shared an image of seashells arranged to spell out the numbers 8647 on social media.
Some of Trump’s supporters said the numbers were a coded message calling for Trump’s removal from office.
Comey deleted the post, saying: “It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”

Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director James Comey has met with the United States Secret Service, after he was called in to discuss a social media post that Donald Trump’s supporters claimed was a threat against the president.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in a post on social media platform X, said there was “an ongoing investigation” but gave no indication of whether Comey might be subject to further action.

The Secret Service, which is in charge of presidential security and is part of the Department of Homeland Security, interviewed Comey at the Washington field office on Saturday (AEST), according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The meeting lasted about an hour, the official said.

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

Federal law enforcement agencies were investigating an Instagram post by Comey on Thursday with a photo of the number 8647 formed by seashells on sand with the comment: “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 ‘8647’ and ‘8646’ themes have been used as political slogans and on T-shirts during the administrations of both Trump and his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, the 46th US president.

‘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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