A disturbing movement calling for Donald Trump‘s assassination appeared to get a high-profile nod from former FBI Director James Comey on Thursday.
Comey has faced calls for his arrest since he posted and swiftly deleted a cryptic Instagram post featuring shells on a beach arranged to spell out ’86 47.’
Comey quickly apologized as he claimed he didn’t arrange the shells himself but simply stumbled across them and ‘assumed they were a political message.’
But many doubted this claim, and noted that calls to ’86’ Trump have appeared numerous times in recent years – alongside several legitimate attempts on the president’s life.
The term ’86-ing’ something is most commonly used in hospitality to mean a menu item is out of stock, but has a broader translation that means ‘getting rid’ of a person or product.
Others note that it has also been used in mafia jargon, to mean a grave being eight feet long and six feet deep. It is also frequently found in military parlance to ’86’ a mission, such as for bad weather, however it is not an official term in military guides.
The reference to ’47’ notes Trump as the 47th US President, with protestors and far-left agitators seen at past rallies and demonstrations holding signs reading ’86 47′, and ’86 45′ in his previous term.
One of the most controversial instances before Comey’s post on Thursday occurred in October 2020 when Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer appeared on a Zoom interview with NBC with ’86 45′ on a desk behind her.
Former FBI Director James Comey set social media ablaze with this cryptic image of shells on a beach reading ’86 47′ – a term that many took as a call to assassinate President Trump
Comey quickly claimed he didn’t arrange the shells himself but simply stumbled across them and ‘assumed they were a political message’
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer made headlines in October 2020, during Trump’s first term as 45th president, when she appeared on an interview with ’86 45′ in the background
The Trump campaign claimed at the time of Whitmer’s interview that she was ‘encouraging assassination attempts’ on Trump.
Whitmer alleged that she displayed the numbers to merely mean ‘get rid of’ Trump, and said through a spokesman at the time: ‘It’s pretty clear nobody in the Trump campaign has ever worked a food service job.’
After Comey claimed he was not aware that ‘some folks associate those numbers with violence’ and insisted it ‘never occurred’ to him, many cast doubt on his claim.
Rallies as recently as this spring saw anti-Trump protestors hold ’86 47′ signs, and the numbers can be found on a range of merchandise criticizing the president.
The inference of assassinating Trump took on more significance after the repeat attempts on his life during the 2024 presidential campaign.
Trump was shot in the ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, by Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, just two months before Ryan Wesley Routh, 59, also allegedly tried to shoot Trump on his Florida golf course.
The inference of assassinating Trump took on more significance after the repeat attempts on his life during the 2024 presidential campaign
Rallies as recently as this spring saw anti-Trump protestors hold ’86 47′ signs, pictured at a demonstration in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on April 5
A protestor gleefully holds a sign reading ’86 47′ at a rally for detained student Mahmoud Khalil earlier this year
After Comey shared his controversial Instagram post, a number of anti-Trump influencers piled on with their own calls to ’86’ the president.
Left-wing social media figure Ed Krassenstein took to X hours after Comey shared his ’86 47′ shell photo to post a picture of four billiards balls with the numbers, captioned ‘It’s Time!’
He was met with a wave of criticism as followers tagged FBI Director Kash Patel in his posts, leading the influencer to follow Comey’s footsteps and claim he had no idea about the meaning behind the numbers.
‘For the record, I am 100% against violence in any form,’ he said to his one million X followers.
‘Stop creating bogus meanings to try and investigate your political opponents. 8647 means ‘remove Trump from office’ – If you are creating any other meaning you are the ones who are going to end up inciting the violence.’
Krassenstein also pointed out that conservatives had also sold ’86 46′ shirts during the Biden administration.
After Comey shared his controversial Instagram post, a number of anti-Trump influencers piled on with their own calls to ’86’ the president – including social media figure Ed Krassenstein who shared a picture of four billiards balls with the numbers, captioned ‘It’s Time!’
Krassenstein also pointed out that conservatives had also sold ’86 46′ shirts during the Biden administration
Comey is facing calls to be arrested following his Instagram post, with the FBI and Secret Service saying they are opening investigations into his antics.
After the former FBI Director issued his bizarre statement claiming to have not arranged the shells in the suggestive way and it ‘never occurred’ to him that it could be an inference to killing Trump, MAGA insiders claimed he was lying.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said: ‘That is a ridiculous and insane statement to make. Coming from a guy who is the former director of the FBI.
‘For Comey to think that we the American people, that he as a former FBI director, former prosecutor, would believe his lie that he didn’t know what this was calling for. The dangerousness of this cannot be understated.’
Critics said Comey’s denial also does not make sense, given he admitted that he knew it was a politically charged message.
Others have also questioned whether there is any truth to his argument that he simply stumbled upon the shells already in that formation on a beach, and chose to take a snap without fully understanding what it meant.
Gabbard argued that Comey’s status as a former figure of authority meant his message put Trump at further risk and could have been interpreted as a call to arms.
‘I’m very concerned for the President’s life, and James Comey, in my view, should be held accountable and put behind bars for this,’ she said.
