Former FBI Director James Comey is under investigation by the U.S. Secret Service after a now-deleted Instagram post sparked outrage among Republicans, who allege it incited violence against former President Donald Trump.
The controversy began when Comey shared a photo of seashells arranged in the shape of the numbers “8647,” captioned: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.” The post quickly drew criticism, as the number “86” is slang for “to get rid of” or “to kill,” while “47” is a reference to Trump, who is the 47th President of the United States.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem accused Comey of making a veiled threat against the former president. “Disgraced former FBI Director James Comey just called for the assassination of Trump,” she posted on X (formerly Twitter), adding that her department and the Secret Service would investigate.
The Secret Service confirmed they are taking the matter seriously. “We vigorously investigate anything that can be taken as a potential threat against our protectees,” said agency spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi. “We are aware of the social media posts by the former FBI Director & we take rhetoric like this very seriously.”
Comey later deleted the post and issued a clarification. “I assumed [the sea shells] were a political message. I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” he wrote in a follow-up post. “It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
The FBI, now led by Director Kash Patel, also acknowledged the incident. “We are in communication with the Secret Service and Director Curran. Primary jurisdiction is with SS on these matters and we, the FBI, will provide all necessary support,” Patel said on social media.
The reaction among Trump’s allies was swift. Donald Trump Jr. accused Comey of “casually calling for my dad to be murdered.” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino claimed it was “a plea to bad actors/terrorists to assassinate the POTUS” during Trump’s ongoing Middle East trip.
Comey, who led the FBI from 2013 to 2017, has long been a controversial figure. He was dismissed by Trump in 2017 during the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The investigation is ongoing, with no formal charges announced.
