Ex-FBI Director James Comey Accused of Calling for Trump’s ‘Assassination’ with '8647' Instagram Post

Washington: A cryptic Instagram post by former FBI Director James Comey has sparked a storm of controversy in the US, with supporters of Donald Trump accusing him of posting a coded death threat aimed at the president. The post, now deleted, showed seashells arranged on a beach in the shape of the number 8647, captioned, "Cool shell formation on my beach walk."

Trump’s supporters believe that the hidden code message is a death threat for Trump from those who want him to be removed from the presidency. As per internet slang, "86" means to get rid of something or someone or throw it out, while "47" is a reference to Trump’s 47th presidency. So here, 8647 together has been used by some online as a subtle way to say "get rid of Trump."

The post was also flagged by Donald Trump Jr., who shared a screenshot on social media, accusing Comey of calling for his father's assassination. "Just James Comey casually calling for my dad to be murdered. This is who the Dem-Media worships. Demented!" he wrote.

Soon after, Trump administration officials jumped in. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the post a serious threat and said an investigation was underway. "Disgraced former FBI Director James Comey just called for the assassination of Trump. DHS and Secret Service are investigating this threat," she posted on X.

Comey, a long-time critic of Trump, denied any harmful intent behind the post. In a clarification, he said, "I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message. I didn’t 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."

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The controversy has reignited tensions between Trump and the intelligence community. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich said the message was clearly threatening and shows how desperate the "deep state" has become. "While President Trump is currently on an international trip to the Middle East, the former FBI Director puts out what can clearly be interpreted as 'a hit' on the sitting President of the United States — a message etched in the sand," Budowich said.

Security for Trump has been increased, keeping in mind the past two assassination attempts on him during his presidential campaign.