The U.S. Department of Justice has gotten an indictment against James Comey, former FBI Director, because Comey posted a photo of seashells that dumisplayed the number “8647.”

Trump is angry at Comey because he authorized the FBI investigation of Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 election to favor Trump. In actuality, he should be thanking Comey, because his decision to reopen the FBI review of her emails only 10 days before the 2016 election hurt her and helped Trump win.

FBI Director Kash Patel said his agency had spent “9, 10, 11 months” determining that the seashell message threatened the president’s life. (One reaction in Twitter was: “Let Savannah Guthrie find her own mother,” another showed Patel with a huge conch shell to his ear and was labeled “Law & Order: Special Seashell Victims Unit.)

I looked up 86 in various dictionaries and none of them said that it referred to murder.

In Wikipedia, the term 86 means:

Eighty-six or 86 is American English slang, originating in the hospitality industry, especially a food or drinks establishment, meaning that an item is no longer available, or that a person or people is not welcome on the premises. Its etymology is unknown, but it seems to have been coined in the 1920s or 1930s.

I asked ChatGPT about the meaning of 86, and it responded:

“86” is American slang with a few related meanings, all built around the idea of getting rid of something:

1) In restaurants and bars (most common origin)

  • “We’re 86 on the salmon” → the salmon is sold out / unavailable
  • “86 that order” → cancel it

2) About people

  • “He got 86’d from the bar” → he was kicked out / banned

3) More generally

  • “Let’s 86 that idea” → discard or reject it

Where it comes from (uncertain)
There’s no single confirmed origin, but popular theories include:

  • Old diner slang codes in the early 20th century
  • Prohibition-era bars using numbers to signal “no more” or “remove someone”
  • A reference to being “86 miles out” (i.e., gone)

The exact source is debated, but the meaning—remove, reject, or run out of—is consistent across uses.

A Substack blog blog titled “Home of the Brave” says that Trump doesn’t know what “86” means. It is not associated with murder or death.”

This week the Department of Justice indicted James Comey for a social media post of seashells spelling out “8647.” That put the term “86”—which in restaurant industry parlance means striking or removing something from the menu—in the spotlight.

From the Oval Office, here’s what Trump had to say: “If anybody knows anything about crime, they know ‘86.’ You know what 86 [is]? It’s a mob term for ‘kill them.’ You ever see the movies?”

We decided to take the president up on his suggestion, and checked “the movies” for 86 references:

  • In The Candidate (1972), Robert Redford is told to “86 the sideburns.”
  • In The Grace Card (2010), Michael Joiner plays a cop who is so annoyed by his partner’s singing that he asks “can we 86 it, please?”
  • In Make It Happen (2008), dancer Tessa Thompson says she’ll “just 86 the combo” in her routine.
  • In Chef (2014), Jon Favreau tells his fellow cooks that an item on the menu is going to be “86”-ed.
  • In a 2017 episode of the TV show Shameless, Emmy Rossum tells Richard Flood to “86” an ugly pocket door.

You get the idea. Trump is almost certainly pretending he thinks the seashells post was a threat on his life because he wants Comey prosecuted. Citing “the movies” as his support is laughable on its face.

We have a handful of movies to recommend if Trump wants to learn the true meaning of “86”. He could have screened them in the White House Family Theater if he hadn’t already demolished it.

Home of the Brave exists to show Americans the real-world consequences of this administration’s policies, and to highlight what bravery looks like in defense of American democracy.