Ex-FBI director James Comey posted an image of seashells. Now he’s being probed for ‘threats’ to Trump | EUROtoday

Former FBI director James Comey is being accused of “threatening the life” of Donald Trump after posting an Instagram image of seashells on a seashore.

“Cool shell formation on my beach walk,” Comey captioned the publish, which depicted seashells spelling out “8647.”

But conservatives have been fast to counsel that their formation was supposed as a veiled menace in opposition to the commander-in-chief, as “86” has a historical past of getting used as a verb in American slang to imply eradicating somebody from a venue, and Trump is the forty seventh president of the United States.

Comey subsequently deleted the picture and defined in a separate publish: “I posted a picture earlier of some shells I saw on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message.

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“I didn’t realize 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.”

He didn’t make clear what “political message” he assumed the shells have been supposed to convey and his try to deal with the controversy solely served to stoke Republican fury.

Tennessee GOP Rep. Andy Ogles moved swiftly to announce he had written to Secret Service Director Sean Curran and FBI Director Kash Patel “urging an immediate joint investigation,” including: “If Comey broke the law, he shouldn’t get a pass. He should be in handcuffs.”

Patel responded on X that the bureau was conscious of Comey’s publish and was “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,” he added.

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“The Secret Service vigorously investigates anything that can be taken as a potential threat against our protectees,” Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi mentioned in a press release.

“We are aware of the social media posts by the former FBI director and we take rhetoric like this very seriously. Beyond that, we do not comment on protective intelligence matters.”

Those messages did nothing to chill the temper both, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem declaring on X: “Disgraced former FBI Director James Comey just called for the assassination of President Trump.”

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard then appeared on Jesse Watters’ Fox News present and mentioned: “Any other person with the position of influence that he has, people who take very seriously what a guy of his stature, his experience and what the propaganda media has built him up to be, I’m very concerned for the president’s life.

“We’ve already seen assassination attempts. I’m very concerned for his life and James Comey, in my view, should be held accountable and put behind bars for this.”

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Donald Trump Jr, the president’s eldest son, posted Comey’s seashell image with the caption: “Just James Comey causally [sic] calling for my dad to be murdered. This is who the Dem-Media worships. Demented!!!!”

Maga activist Charlie Kirk appeared to not choose up on the alleged menace however attacked Comey anyway for making “cringe posts like a childless 50-year-old liberal woman on Facebook,” expressing gratitude that Trump “put this weirdo out to pasture” when he fired him in 2017.

Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert known as for Comey’s prosecution however then posted her personal AI meme of seashells spelling out “FAFO,” which generally stands for “F*** Around and Find Out,” which itself might be construed as a menace.

According to USA Todayciting a guide entitled The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York (2006), using “86” as a verb is claimed to originate with the celebrated pub Chumley’s in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, which stood at 86 Bedford St and was identified for tossing drunken patrons out into the road once they grew to become disorderly – or “86-ing” them.

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary acknowledges that “to kill” is a extra trendy utilization of the time period however explains that it has not adopted it “due to its relative recency and sparseness of use.”

While a menace in opposition to the president’s life shouldn’t be taken flippantly, notably provided that Trump himself was twice focused by snipers throughout the 2024 presidential election marketing campaign, the person within the White House has confronted comparable criticism to that Comey is now receiving over his personal public statements.

Trump attracted heavy disapproval within the last days of final yr’s marketing campaign when he entertained the concept of his political enemy Liz Cheney being assassinated throughout an occasion with Tucker Carlson in Arizona.