An Air Force veteran and congressional candidate who has incorporated the numbers “8647” into his campaign is refusing to back down after the Justice Department indicted former FBI Director James Comey for posting a photo featuring the same numbers. Mark Davis, an unaffiliated candidate running in Florida’s 16th district, drives a car with an “8647” license plate, wears an “86 47” hat, and sells hats and T-shirts bearing the numbers on his campaign website.
The numbers have become a rallying cry for opponents of President Donald Trump. “86” is a term that can mean to get rid of something or, in some contexts, to kill someone, while “47” refers to Trump as the 47th president. The controversy erupted after Comey was indicted for posting an Instagram photo of seashells arranged to spell “86 47,” which prosecutors argued was a threat against the president.
Davis, however, has no intention of stopping his use of the numbers. “Arrest us all. I dare you,” Davis said in an interview with NBC News. “I am done staying quiet. I’ve got a family, I’ve got kids, and I’m watching this country get dragged through chaos while people are going to sit down and shut up. And I am not doing that, and millions of other people aren’t doing it, either.”
Davis has been using “86 47” to express his disdain for Trump since launching his campaign for the House of Representatives last year. After the Justice Department indicted Comey, Davis posted a photo of himself wearing an “86 47” hat and posing with his “8647” license plate on Instagram, writing: “Thanks a lot DOJ… You just made this a little awkward.” He told NBC News he plans to wear his merchandise every day until the congressional election.
Comey, a longtime critic of Trump, was indicted for a second time this past week for the Instagram post. Trump claimed the numbers are a threat, saying, “Well, if anybody knows anything about crime, they know ‘86.’ You know what ‘86’ – it’s a mob term for ‘kill him.’ You know?” Comey has denied any violent intent. Davis dismissed that interpretation as “silly,” calling “86” a restaurant term meaning to remove an item from the menu.
Davis is not alone in selling “86 47” merchandise. Hundreds of T-shirts with variations of the numbers are available on Amazon for as little as $10, while sites like Redbubble and Etsy offer stickers, hats, posters, and other items. Comey was first indicted by the Trump administration last year on charges of lying to Congress. He pleaded not guilty, but a federal judge later dismissed the case, citing an unlawfully appointed prosecutor.
