WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Homeland Security Secretary said Thursday that federal law enforcement is investigating a social media post made by former FBI Director James Comey that she and other Republicans suggest is a call for violence against President .
In an Instagram post, Comey wrote 鈥渃ool shell formation on my beach walk鈥� under a picture of seashells that appeared to form the shapes for 鈥�86 47.鈥�
Numerous Trump administration officials, including Noem, said Comey was advocating for the assassination of Trump, the 47th president. 鈥淒HS and Secret Service is investigating this threat and will respond appropriately,鈥� Noem wrote.
Merriam-Webster, the dictionary used by The Associated Press, says 86 is slang meaning 鈥渢o throw out,鈥� 鈥渢o get rid of鈥� or 鈥渢o refuse service to.鈥� It notes: 鈥淎mong the most recent senses adopted is a logical extension of the previous ones, with the meaning of 鈥榯o kill.鈥� We do not enter this sense, due to its relative recency and sparseness of use.鈥�
The post has since been deleted. Comey subsequently wrote, 鈥淚 posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message. I didn鈥檛 realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.
鈥淚t never occurred to me,鈥� Comey added, 鈥渂ut I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.鈥�
Comey's original post sparked outrage among conservatives on social media, with Donald Trump Jr. accusing Comey of calling for his father鈥檚 killing.
Current FBI Director Kash Patel said he was aware of the post and was conferring with the Secret Service and its director.
James Blair, White House deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs, noted that the post came at a delicate time given that Trump is .
鈥淭his is a Clarion Call from Jim Comey to terrorists & hostile regimes to kill the President of the United States as he travels in the Middle East,鈥� Blair wrote on X.
Comey, who was FBI director from 2013 to 2017, was during the president's first term amid the bureau鈥檚 probe into allegations of ties between Russian officials and Trump鈥檚 2016 presidential campaign. Comey wrote about his career in the best-selling memoir 鈥淎 Higher Loyalty.鈥�
He is now a and is promoting his latest book, 鈥淔DR Drive,鈥� which is being released on Tuesday.
The Associated Press
