James Comey, the former FBI director, made a brief court appearance on Wednesday after being indicted over a social media post featuring seashells arranged to spell “86 47”. The US Justice Department claims the image constituted a threat against President Donald Trump, the 47th president.
The indictment, filed in North Carolina on Tuesday, argues that a reasonable person would interpret the post as “a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States”. Comey, who posted the photograph last year, has stated he removed it as soon as he realized some viewed it as threatening, insisting he opposes violence.
In a video response on his Substack, Comey declared: “I am still innocent… Nothing has changed with me. I am still innocent. I am still not afraid. And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary.” He noted that the prosecution “won’t be the end of it”.
President Trump commented from the White House that his life was “probably” endangered, adding that “86 is a mob term for ‘kill him’”. The case marks the second indictment against Comey by the Justice Department, following a previous charge of lying to Congress that was dismissed due to a wrongful appointment of the prosecutor.
Comey has long been a target of Trump’s anger, dating back to his role in investigating Trump’s ties to Russia during his first term. Trump fired Comey in 2017, four years into his ten-year FBI term. The new indictment is seen as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to prosecute political opponents.
