Kristi Noem, who is in charge of Homeland Security, said on Thursday that the police are looking into a message on social media by James Comey, who used to be the head of the FBI. She and other Republicans think the message is telling people to be violent against President Donald Trump.

Comey wrote on Instagram about some seashells he saw on the beach. The shells looked like the numbers "86 47". He said it was a "cool shell formation".

Many people who worked for President Trump, like Noem, said Comey wanted someone to kill Trump. Noem said that the police and Secret Service were checking this threat and would take action.

Merriam-Webster dictionary says that "86" is slang for "throw out" or "refuse service." They also say it can mean "to kill," but they don't include that meaning because it's new and not used much.

The message was removed. Then, Comey wrote: "I shared a photo of shells I found on the beach today. I thought it was just a nice picture, but I didn't know some people think those numbers are connected to violence."

Comey wrote something online that made some conservatives very angry. Donald Trump Jr. said that Comey was asking for his father to be killed.

The current head of the FBI, Kash Patel, said he knew about the post and was talking to the Secret Service and its leader.

James Blair, who works at the White House, said this job is happening at a tricky time because Trump is visiting the Middle East.

Blair wrote on X that Jim Comey is asking terrorists and enemies to kill the President while he is traveling in the Middle East.

Comey was the head of the FBI from 2013 to 2017. Trump fired him when he was president because the FBI was looking into possible connections between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign. Comey also wrote a popular book about his job called “A Higher Loyalty.”

He writes crime books now, and he's telling people about his new book, "FDR Drive," which comes out on Tuesday.