“86 47” is a political protest slogan that uses old American restaurant slang to call for removing Donald Trump, the 47th president, from office. The number “86” has meant “throw out,” “refuse to serve,” or “get rid of” since the 1930s.1Merriam-Webster. The Real Meaning of Eighty-Six Attached to “47,” it functions as shorthand among Trump critics for impeachment and removal. The phrase would be unremarkable slang except for one thing: the federal government now treats some uses of it as a threat to the president’s life. A former FBI director has been indicted over it, a protest group had to sue the National Park Service to keep flying it, and someone carved it into the grass on the National Mall.
Where “86” Comes From
“Eighty-six” first appeared in print in the early 1930s as lunch-counter jargon for an item that was sold out. By the 1950s it had become a verb, used especially by bartenders for cutting off or ejecting a customer. The most common theory is that it started as rhyming slang for “nix.”1Merriam-Webster. The Real Meaning of Eighty-Six Today it is standard vocabulary across the food and hospitality industry, meaning to remove an item from the menu or a person from the premises, with no violent connotation attached.2Food & Wine. Essential Kitchen Terms
Merriam-Webster does note that “eighty-six” has, in rare usage, been used to mean killing someone. The dictionary’s editors have declined to formally adopt that definition, citing the “relative recency and sparseness” of that meaning.3Politico. Judge Rules Anti-Trump Group Can Fly 86-47 Flag That narrow, disputed meaning is the crack the government has tried to pry open in court.
The Earlier Versions: 86 45 and 86 46
Attaching “86” to a president’s number is not new. In 2020, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” wearing a small pin reading “8645,” a reference to Trump as the 45th president. The Trump campaign accused her of encouraging assassination. Her staff dismissed the accusation, with a spokesperson saying, “It’s pretty clear nobody in the Trump campaign has ever worked a food service job.”4Detroit Free Press. 8645 Meaning: Whitmer Trump No investigation followed.
When Joe Biden became the 46th president, the formula flipped. “86 46” shirts and merchandise appeared on Amazon, Etsy, and Redbubble.5Snopes. Republicans 8646 Merch Conservative influencer Jack Posobiec posted “86 46” on Twitter on January 29, 2022.6Snopes. Jack Posobiec 8646 Tweet Former congressman Matt Gaetz posted in February 2024 that he had “86’d: McCarthy, McDaniel, McConnell,” celebrating the ouster of Republican leaders.7PBS NewsHour. Comey Is Under Investigation for Posting 86 in Reference to Trump None of the posters or merchandise sellers faced a known criminal investigation.8Protect Democracy. Retaliatory Action Tracker
Why 86 47 Became a Legal Fight
The phrase became a federal criminal matter through James Comey, the former FBI director Trump fired in 2017. In May 2025, Comey posted an Instagram image of seashells arranged to spell “86 47,” captioned “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”9BBC News. James Comey Indicted Over Seashell Post Donald Trump Jr. publicly accused Comey of “casually calling for my dad to be murdered,” and the Secret Service opened an investigation.
The day after the post, the Secret Service tracked Comey’s cellphone location. Officers in unmarked cars and plain clothes followed him and his wife as they drove from the North Carolina coast toward their Washington-area home, with agents waiting at the house. Officials described these steps as measures “usually reserved for serious threats.”10The New York Times. James Comey Secret Service
On April 28, 2026, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina indicted Comey on two counts: knowingly making a threat to take the life of and inflict bodily harm upon the president, and transmitting a threat to kill the president in interstate commerce. Each count carries a maximum of ten years. Prosecutors called “86” “a mob term” for getting rid of or killing someone. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the case, saying, “Threatening the life of President Trump … is a crime. Full stop.”9BBC News. James Comey Indicted Over Seashell Post
Comey surrendered and appeared in a Virginia court on April 29, 2026, but did not enter a plea. The judge denied the government’s request for conditions of release. Comey says he did not realize the numbers carried a violent connotation and deleted the post afterward.9BBC News. James Comey Indicted Over Seashell Post He has publicly maintained his innocence: “I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary.”11BBC News. James Comey Second Indictment His attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, has said the defense will seek dismissal on grounds of “selective and vindictive prosecution.” Trial is scheduled for October 21, 2026, with arraignment on September 30 in New Bern, North Carolina.12The Hill. James Comey Seashell Case
The Flag Ruling That Cut the Other Way
A separate case in Washington, D.C., has already tested whether “86 47” can be treated as a threat, and reached the opposite conclusion. A volunteer group called Accountability Now USA had been running a 24-hour anti-Trump demonstration on National Park Service land near the George Meade Statue since April 2026, displaying signs and a prominent “8647” flag under a permit.13The New York Times. Demonstrators 8647 Trump Judge
The National Park Service demanded the flag come down, arguing that “86 47” was a coded call for violence. Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn told the court that “based on my training and experience, I believe that this term, as it is understood today, can incite violence by others.” The government also disclosed that the Secret Service was investigating more than 1,300 instances of the phrase’s use.14The Hill. 8647 Flag Protest Permit
On June 1, 2026, U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss issued a 21-page opinion and a two-week temporary restraining order barring the Park Service from interfering with the flag.3Politico. Judge Rules Anti-Trump Group Can Fly 86-47 Flag Citing Merriam-Webster, Moss found that “86” is used “far more often to mean ‘throw out’ than ‘kill,'” and that the demonstration’s context was focused on the constitutional process of impeachment. He wrote that “the government seeks to squelch core political speech without any articulable — much less evidentiary — basis for concluding that the speech actually threatens the life or safety of the President.”15ACLU-DC. Judge Bars Park Service From Removing Flag Demonstration Moss’s opinion expressly did not address the Comey criminal case. Even so, the Washington Times reported the ruling was widely viewed as a blow to the Justice Department’s position in Comey’s case, because both cases turn on the same interpretive question.16Washington Times. Judge Rules Anti-Trump Group Can Fly 86-47 Flag
The National Mall Etching
On June 11, 2026, the numbers “86 47” were discovered etched into the grass of the National Mall, east of the World War II Memorial, in a discoloration large enough to be visible from the webcam atop the Washington Monument.17The Hill. 8647 Trump Opposition Grass U.S. Park Police roped off the area, and members of the National Guard directed the public away.18ABC News. Giant 86 47 Found Marked on Grass of National Mall The Department of the Interior called it “deranged vandalism” and warned that “any threat against the President is taken very seriously.” A White House spokesperson said that “anyone who engages in or endorses political violence or assassination culture must be condemned in the harshest terms possible.” As of mid-June 2026, no arrests had been made.
Is Saying “86 47” a Crime?
Under settled First Amendment law, political speech is protected even when it sounds heated. The Supreme Court recognized in Watts v. United States (1969) that even statements that sound threatening can be protected as “political hyperbole”; the Court overturned the conviction of a man who said at a rally that if he were drafted, “the first man I want to get in my sights is L.B.J.”19FindLaw. First Amendment Limits: Fighting Words, Hostile Audiences, and True Threats
In Virginia v. Black (2003), the Court defined a “true threat” as a statement in which the speaker “means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group.”19FindLaw. First Amendment Limits: Fighting Words, Hostile Audiences, and True Threats And in Counterman v. Colorado (2023), the Court added a subjective requirement: the government must prove the speaker “consciously disregarded a substantial risk” that their words would be perceived as threatening violence. An objective “reasonable person” test alone is not enough.20Supreme Court of the United States. Counterman v. Colorado, 600 U.S. 66
That framework sets a high bar for prosecuting someone over “86 47.” A prosecutor has to show not just that the phrase could be read as violent, but that the speaker themselves was at least reckless about the risk it would be understood that way. Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told NBC News that “8647 is not a true threat to the president” and that “no judge in the country will find that someone acted intentionally or that they willfully intended to communicate a threat to the president based on 86 alone.”21NBC News. 8647 Merch James Comey Indicted
The Selective Enforcement Question
The Comey indictment prompted immediate accusations that the same slang is treated differently depending on who says it. In an April 29, 2026 CBS interview, correspondent Major Garrett pressed Blanche on why Posobiec’s 2022 “86 46” post drew no consequences while Comey’s post drew a felony charge. Blanche said, “Every investigation is different,” and added that he did not know whether the Posobiec post had ever been formally investigated.22Mediaite. CBS Major Garrett Grills AG Blanche On Whitmer’s 2020 “86 45” pin, Blanche left the door open to a potential investigation, telling reporters that “who makes the threat matters” and “what the threat says matters.”23Michigan Advance. After Comey Indictment, Acting AG Leaves Door Open to Whitmer Investigation
Gaetz, for his part, distinguished his past-tense “86’d” usage from what he called Comey’s “call for future action.”24The Independent. James Comey 86 Gaetz MAGA Attorney Damin Toell mocked the government’s logic by posting Posobiec’s tweet with the caption “IT’S A KILL CODE.”25The Independent. James Comey 86 Gaetz MAGA
The Protect Democracy organization tracks the Comey case as one of 31 instances of alleged retaliatory action by the administration against political adversaries, contrasting his prosecution with the absence of any known criminal action against Posobiec, Gaetz, or the vendors who sold “8646” merchandise.8Protect Democracy. Retaliatory Action Tracker George Washington University law professor Stephen Saltzburg told NPR that an environment in which the president is “openly, brazenly bragging about his ability to seek retribution against his political enemies” may actually make it easier for defendants to argue selective or vindictive prosecution.26NPR. Trump Justice Department Comey Letitia James Virginia
Blanche has said that individuals lacking Comey’s “reach and profile” would not face similar investigation. The Secret Service’s disclosure that it is examining more than 1,300 uses of the term cuts against that assurance.14The Hill. 8647 Flag Protest Permit