Former FBI Director James Comey’s recent Instagram post featuring seashells arranged to display “86 47” has ignited controversy and operational challenges for federal law enforcement. The post, interpreted by many as a veiled threat against President Donald Trump—where “86” is slang for “eliminate” and “47” references Trump as the 47th president—has led to a surge in potential threats, according to current FBI Director Kash Patel.
In an interview with Fox News, Patel expressed frustration over the diversion of FBI resources to address these threats. “Do you know how many agents I’ve had to take offline from chasing down child sex predators, fentanyl traffickers, terrorists because everywhere across this country, people are popping up on social media and think that a threat to the life of the President of the United States is a joke and they can do it because he did it?” Patel stated.
Comey has defended the post, claiming he stumbled upon the shell arrangement during a beach walk and was unaware of its potential violent connotations. He deleted the image after backlash and stated, “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.”
Despite Comey’s explanation, the Secret Service conducted an interview with him as part of their standard protocol for investigating potential threats against the president. No charges have been filed at this time.
