{"id":5238,"date":"2025-05-16T19:45:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T02:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238"},"modified":"2025-05-19T19:46:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T02:46:01","slug":"trump-accuses-former-fbi-director-of-calling-for-his-killing-through-coded-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238","title":{"rendered":"Trump accuses former FBI director of calling for his killing through coded picture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

James Comey posted picture of shells arranged to say \u20188647\u2019, using common slang for kicking a customer out of a bar<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n



Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0accused the former FBI director\u00a0James Comey<\/a>\u00a0on Friday of calling for his assassination in a coded social media post written in seashells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comey\u2019s Instagram<\/a> post \u2013 a photograph of seashells on a beach arranged to spell the numbers 8647, which he captioned \u201cCool shell formation on my beach walk\u201d \u2013 was used by rightwing supporters of Trump to claim that it was a call to assassinate the US president. The Secret Service<\/a> said it has launched an investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comey has said it \u201cnever occurred to me\u201d that the numbers represented a coded threat. The number 86 is common slang for stopping or getting rid of something, typically old equipment, or being ejected from an establishment such as a bar, and is often a synonym for \u201cnix\u201d. The number 47 could be understood to indicate Trump, the 47th president.

The Secret Service, which is in charge of presidential security and is part of the Department of Homeland Security, interviewed Comey later on Friday as part of an \u201congoing investigation\u201d, DHS secretary Kristi Noem confirmed<\/a> on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant. If you\u2019re the FBI director and you don\u2019t know what that meant? That meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear,\u201d Trump said in an interview with Fox News from Abu Dhabi, where he is wrapping up a four-day Middle East trip.

Trump claimed Comey \u201cwas hit so hard because people like me and they like what\u2019s happening with our country\u201d, adding: \u201cAnd he\u2019s calling for the assassination of the president.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comey, who was fired by Trump in 2017 during an investigation into Russian collusion in the 2016 election, removed the post hours after it began to draw attention from Trump administration officials and supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After taking down the post, Comey said he thought it was a political message but said it did not occur to him that it could have been associated with a call to violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exchanges are the latest in an ongoing war over inflamed political rhetoric. Two assassination attempts were made against the president last year, both from people without any clear partisan ideology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number 86 has also been used by Republicans calling for the impeachment of Joe Biden: for example, T-shirts sold on Amazon read \u201c8646\u201d<\/a>, indicating a call to impeach Biden (the 46th president).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overheated political rhetoric has long been a subject of controversy. Biden said last July it had been a mistake for him to say \u201ctime to put Trump in a bullseye\u201d, days before Saturday\u2019s assassination attempt on his election rival, while Trump has repeatedly used similar language, including suggesting that the former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney might not be such a \u201cwarhawk\u201d if she had rifles \u201cshooting at her\u201d to see how she felt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson for the Secret Service confirmed the agency was<\/a> \u201caware of the incident\u201d and said it would \u201cvigorously investigate\u201d any potential threat, but did not offer further details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement, Comey said: \u201cI posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post ignited a firestorm on the right.

\u201cDisgraced former FBI director James Comey just called for the assassination of POTUS Trump,\u201d the homeland security director, Kristi Noem, wrote on X. \u201cDHS and Secret Service<\/a> is investigating this threat and will respond appropriately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The director of the FBI, Kash Patel, said<\/a> his agency would \u201cprovide all necessary support\u201d as part of an investigation headed by the Secret Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesperson for the presidential security agency,\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0on social media that the agency investigates anything that could be taken as a threat. \u201cWe are aware of the social media posts by the former FBI Director & we take rhetoric like this very seriously,\u201d he added.

Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, said she didn\u2019t buy Comey\u2019s explanation that the message carried no greater meaning. Gabbard said Comey had \u201cjust issued a call to action to murder the president of the United States\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a former FBI director and someone who spent most of his career prosecuting mobsters and gangsters, he knew exactly what he was doing and must be held accountable under the full force of the law,\u201d\u00a0Gabbard posted on X<\/a>.

Gabbard later told Fox News<\/a> that Comey was \u201cissuing a hit\u201d on the president and that \u201cthe dangerousness of this cannot be underestimated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post comes as the former FBI director is about to publish FDR Drive, the third installment of a crime series about a fictional New York lawyer, Nora Carleton.\u00a0Publisher\u2019s Weekly outlined\u00a0<\/a>the plot as centering on a US attorney who tries to bring to justice \u201ca far-right media personality with a popular podcast vilifying those he thinks are destroying America: intellectuals, immigrants, and people of color\u201d.

Reprinted from The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Comey posted picture of shells arranged to say \u20188 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[4742,1793,1891],"class_list":["post-5238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa","tag-comey","tag-former","tag-trump"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump accuses former FBI director of calling for his killing through coded picture - abovecloud<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump accuses former FBI director of calling for his killing through coded picture - abovecloud\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"James Comey posted picture of shells arranged to say \u20188 […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"abovecloud\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-17T02:45:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-20T02:46:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-11.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"925\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"610\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u4f5c\u8005\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"TSOC\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 \u5206\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/\",\"name\":\"abovecloud\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-11.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-11.png\",\"width\":925,\"height\":610},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238\",\"name\":\"Trump accuses former FBI director of calling for his killing through coded picture - abovecloud\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-17T02:45:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-20T02:46:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/c3dfcc4d98f62582d53cee65a4f66054\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9875\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump accuses former FBI director of calling for his killing through coded picture\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/c3dfcc4d98f62582d53cee65a4f66054\",\"name\":\"TSOC\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b544a9840d5be448416e571f5f8baf908b3375d6fab2436e830dfa46f317de82?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b544a9840d5be448416e571f5f8baf908b3375d6fab2436e830dfa46f317de82?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"caption\":\"TSOC\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump accuses former FBI director of calling for his killing through coded picture - abovecloud","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238","og_locale":"zh_CN","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump accuses former FBI director of calling for his killing through coded picture - abovecloud","og_description":"James Comey posted picture of shells arranged to say \u20188 […]","og_url":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238","og_site_name":"abovecloud","article_published_time":"2025-05-17T02:45:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-20T02:46:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":925,"height":610,"url":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-11.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"\u4f5c\u8005":"TSOC","\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4":"4 \u5206"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/#website","url":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/","name":"abovecloud","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"zh-Hans"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"zh-Hans","@id":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-11.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-11.png","width":925,"height":610},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238#webpage","url":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238","name":"Trump accuses former FBI director of calling for his killing through coded picture - abovecloud","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2025-05-17T02:45:12+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-20T02:46:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/c3dfcc4d98f62582d53cee65a4f66054"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"zh-Hans","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=5238#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9875","item":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump accuses former FBI director of calling for his killing through coded picture"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/c3dfcc4d98f62582d53cee65a4f66054","name":"TSOC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"zh-Hans","@id":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b544a9840d5be448416e571f5f8baf908b3375d6fab2436e830dfa46f317de82?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b544a9840d5be448416e571f5f8baf908b3375d6fab2436e830dfa46f317de82?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","caption":"TSOC"},"url":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?author=3"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5238"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5240,"href":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5238\/revisions\/5240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}