Former F.B.I. Director James Comey sparked outrage on Wednesday after posting a photo to Instagram that was interpreted by the Trump administration as a call for violence against President Donald Trump.
The image, which Mr. Comey later deleted, showed seashells in sand arranged to form the numbers “86 47.” Administration officials and some of his supporters believed the numbers referred to Mr. Trump’s status as the 47th president and the slang term “eighty-six,” which means “eject” or “remove.”
Mr. Comey clarified his intentions in a follow-up post on Thursday night, stating that he had posted a picture of shells he saw on a beach walk, assuming they were political messages. He wrote, “Just wanted to clarify something. I took down my previous post because it could be misinterpreted as promoting harm towards someone else.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem responded strongly to the incident, asserting that she believes Mr. Comey called for assassination. She tweeted, “I believe @jamescomey just called for assassination.” Her agency is investigating this threat along with Secret Service agents from her department.
Current F.B.I. Director Kash Patel mentioned in an interview with Fox News that his agency is aware of recent statements made by former director James Comey and is in communication with security agencies regarding these matters. However, Mr. Patel did not comment further on whether any investigation was underway into potential threats made against President Trump or other individuals related to this incident.
It was unclear how long ago Mr. Comey posted the original image or how many people saw it before he deleted it from his account late Wednesday evening after receiving backlash online over its perceived meaning.
In an interview with CNN earlier this week, Ms. Noem expressed that there should be consequences if someone makes threats against another person’s life while serving as president, even if they are not directly threatening them personally but rather their ability to serve out their term of office without being removed through impeachment proceedings first.
Ms. Noem also raised concerns about public statements calling for violence against others who hold different views. She pointed out that there have been instances where individuals have been charged under federal law after making similar comments online. For example, last year, two men were arrested at Mar-a-Lago following comments they made online suggesting they would shoot former President Joe Biden during the presidential campaign season.
It remains unclear whether any charges will be brought forward related specifically to former FBI Director James Comey following yesterday’s social media posts regarding his alleged call for assassination.
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