Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director James Comey is being investigated after making an assassination threat against Donald Trump. The United States president’s vocal critic has been accused of making a coded endorsement of violence against the ruler.

Trump fired Comey during his first term in office (when he was the 45th president. Trump is now considered the 47th.) He accused the former FBI head of spreading lies about him as part of what he called a politically motivated “witch hunt.”

James Comey Calls On ‘Patriots’: “Stand Up To Trump!”

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has said that the U.S. Secret Service will be investigating Comey for making veiled threats against a sitting U.S. ruler.  Comey, a longtime critic of Trump, has denied that his cryptic, now-deleted Instagram post was a call for an assassination.

On Thursday, Comey posted an image of seashells that formed the number “8647.” He captioned the image with “cool shell formation on my beach walk.”

The “86” can refer to the slang term of being “eighty-sixed”, or terminated.

“Disgraced former FBI Director James Comey just called for the assassination of Trump,” Noem wrote on X, accoridng to a report by RT. She added that the Department of Homeland Security and Secret Service are “investigating this threat and will respond appropriately.” Fox News Digital cited a source in the Secret Service as saying they will send agents to investigate and interview the ex-FBI chief.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau will “provide all necessary support” to the Secret Service in investigating what he said was Comey’s post, directed at President Trump.”

Comey denied the allegations and has since taken down his post. “I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,” he wrote on Instagram. “I didn’t 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.”

What do you think? Was Comey sending a violent message against Trump? Did he really not know, after being the director of the FBI? Or did he know, and it’s not a big deal? Let us know what you think in the comments. Start the discussion!