'8647' got James Comey indicted. What exactly does it mean?

Politics '8647' got James Comey indicted. What exactly does it mean? April 29, 202611:22 AM ET By  Rachel Treisman A demonstrator holds up an "8647" sign at a "No Kings" protest in Louisville, Ky., in June 2025. It's an anti-Trump slogan, with multiple interpretations. Jon Cherry/AP hide caption toggle caption Jon Cherry/AP Former FBI Director James Comey was charged this week over a year-old social media post of a seashell formation that the Justice Department alleges constituted a threat to President Trump's life. A grand jury returned an indictment on Tuesday saying that Comey "did knowingly and willfully make a threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon, the President of the United States" when he posted a picture of seashells in the sand on a North Carolina beach in May 2025. The seashells were arranged — it's not clear by whom — to form the numbers "8647." Eighty-six is a slang term widely interpreted as meaning "get rid of," while Trump is the 47th (and 45th) president. Sponsor Message Law Grand jury indicts former FBI director James Comey for a second time "I'm still innocent, I'm still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let's go," Comey said in a Substack video response to the indictment, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. Comey has been an outspoken critic of Trump since the president fired him in 2017, four years into his 10-year term, as he was overseeing an investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election. But Comey said last year that he interpreted the shell formation as a purely political message, writing, "I didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence." He quickly took the post down after backlash from Republicans and Trump family members. But that didn't stop administration officials from opening an investigation. The Trump Justice Department has aggressively pursued cases against his political enemies. Just months ago, it attempted to...