Trump officials suggest social media posts by former FBI director call for violence against Trump
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that federal law enforcement is investigating social media posts by former FBI director James Comey, who and other Republicans have suggested violence against U.S. President Donald Trump.
In an Instagram post Comey wrote “Cool Cannonballs” on my beach trail, a photo of the shells that seem to form the shape of “86 47”.
Many Trump administration officials, including Neum, said Comey advocates for the assassination of the 47th President Trump. “The Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service are investigating this threat and will respond appropriately,” Norm wrote on X.
Merriam-Webster, the dictionary used by the Associated Press, said that 86 is lang, meaning “throwing away”, “get rid of” or “denied service.” It notes: “One of the latest sensations adopted is a logical extension of previous sensations, which means “kill”. We do not enter this sensation due to its relative proximity and the sparsity of use.”
Since then, the post has been deleted. Comey then wrote: “I posted earlier photos of some of the shells I saw on the beach walk today, and I think it was a political message. I didn’t realize that some people associate these numbers with violence.
Comey added: “I never thought about it, but I opposed any kind of violence, so I fell the outpost.”
Anger among conservatives
Comey's original post has sparked anger from conservatives on social media, Donald Trump Jr.
Kash Patel, the current FBI director, said he knew about the position and had a meeting with the U.S. Secret Service and its directors.
The Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the president, said it knew Comey’s position but did not evaluate its meaning.
“The Secret Service has vigorously investigated any potential threat that can be seen as a threat to our protectors. We are aware of the social media posts of the former FBI Director and we take such remarks very seriously. Apart from that, we have no comment on protective intelligence matters.”
James Blair, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Political and Public Affairs, noted that the position emerged in a delicate period as Trump was traveling in the Middle East.
“This is Jim Comey's call for terrorists and hostile regimes to kill the U.S. president when he travels through the Middle East,” Blair wrote on X.
Comey, director of the FBI from 2013 to 2017, was fired during the president's first term in the bureau's investigation into allegations that Russian officials had links to Trump's 2016 presidential election. Comey writes about his career in his best-selling memoir Higher loyalty.
He is now a crime novelist and is promoting his latest work, FDR Driverto be released on Tuesday.
