Former FBI Director James Comey flashed all kinds of signals, good and bad, with a potentially viral Instagram post that dropped like a bomb on Thursday night. The post featured a “shell formation” of the call numbers “8647.” The post has generated intense backlash from a host of critics. The result has led to an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service. Comey experienced significant backlash from his own son and others who viewed the post as a credible threat. This concern comes on the heels of that reaction.
In Comey’s own words, in his Instagram post, he calls the image a “shell formation” that he found on a walk by the beach. He has come to recognize since then that those numbers “8647” have come to be understood as a call for violence by some people. He stated, “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.” Following the uproar, Comey removed the post and expressed his opposition to violence, saying, “It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
By May 2017, Donald Trump had had enough. It was time to fire Comey as the FBI director. Once he found out about the post, he certainly did not mince words to address its meaning. As Trump noted, Comey must have known what those numbers meant. When that wasn’t good enough, he added, “Ask any little kid what that meant. If you’re the director of the FBI and you don’t know … that was code and that meant ‘assassination.” Trump characterized the post as a “terrible thing,” adding that it suggested Comey was “calling for the assassination of the president.”
The phrase Eighty-Sixto is often used to refer to the arbitrary refusal of service or to toss a customer out on their ear. It’s related to the countdown number that Comey tweeted. This term’s connotation stoked worry about what exactly he was trying to say even more. It was, of course, an especially sensitive topic given that Trump himself narrowly survived an assassination attempt last summer.
It was Comey’s Instagram post that triggered that federal investigation into Comey by FBI authorities and federal prosecutors. His son and other critics complained about what they saw as a dangerous and inappropriate message. In response to intense criticism, Comey sought to explain his thinking. He ended his testimony by claiming he was harmless, that he didn’t know about the violent connotations connected to the numbers he shared.
“Our country’s become respected again, and all this, and he’s calling for the assassination of the president.” – Donald Trump
The nature of Trump’s response highlights the alarming political stakes that have emerged when talking about or mobilizing against the use of violence and intimidation in today’s political environment. This episode has once again opened up discussions of freedom of speech versus responsible communication, particularly when communicated by public figures.
Federal and state investigations are continuing. It will be interesting to observe how this incident will influence James Comey’s legacy and his position in the current political debate. The backlash from both the conservative and liberal reactions shows how messages can be so quickly misinterpreted in this supercharged political climate.
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