Kristi Noem, who is in charge of Homeland Security, said on Thursday that police are checking a message on social media. Some Republicans, including her, think the message from James Comey, who used to be the boss of the FBI, is telling people to hurt President Donald Trump.

Comey put a photo of seashells on Instagram that looked like the numbers "86 47", and wrote, "Cool shells I found on the beach".

Some people who worked for President Trump, like Noem, said that Comey wanted someone to kill Trump. Noem said that the police and Secret Service are checking this and will act if needed.

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

The post is now gone. Comey later wrote, "Earlier, I shared a photo of shells I found on the beach. I thought it was just a picture, but some people think the numbers on the shells mean something bad. I didn't know that."

Comey's message made some conservatives on social media very angry. Donald Trump Jr. said Comey wanted his father to be killed.

The current head of the FBI, Kash Patel, said he knew about the message 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 difficult time because Trump is visiting the Middle East.

Blair wrote on X that Jim Comey's words might encourage terrorists and unfriendly governments to hurt the President while he is visiting 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 if people from Russia helped Trump win the 2016 election. Comey wrote a popular book about his life called “A Higher Loyalty.”

He writes crime books now and is telling people about his new book, “FDR Drive,” which comes out on Tuesday.