Florida congressional candidate Mark Davis sells “8647” T-shirts and hats on his campaign website — the same numerical shorthand to express discontent over President Donald Trump that is central to the case against a former FBI director.
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James Comey was indicted on two felony counts Tuesday, on charges that his Instagram post of seashells arranged as the numbers 8647 constituted a threat on the president. Comey maintains his innocence, but the fact that he could face years in prison for this photo raises the question of whether Davis and other buyers and sellers of 8647 merchandise could also be charged with threatening the president.
“Arrest us all. I dare you,” said Davis, an Air Force veteran who wears his 8647 hat proudly around his predominantly conservative neighborhood. “I am done staying quiet. I’ve got a family, I’ve got kids, and I’m watching this country get dragged through chaos while people are going to sit down and shut up. And I am not doing that, and millions of other people aren’t doing it, either.”
Davis’ is just one of hundreds of 8647 products for sale online, ranging from T-shirts and hats to stickers and mugs, available across major e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Etsy. While Davis, who is a no-party-affiliated candidate, sells his merch for $29.99, similar listings online range in price and style — including a “classic vintage 80s” version for $17.99.
Amazon and Etsy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“I think it’s silly. ‘86’ is a restaurant term,” Davis told NBC News. “Some say it’s threatening … but it’s a response to years of intimidation and bulls— from this administration, and I’m just not playing that game.”
And the question of intent is the crux of the argument in such cases. Legal experts told NBC News that the possibility of legal action against buyers and sellers is unlikely because it’s a clear example of protected political speech under the First Amendment and lacks any specific intent to commit violence.
“8647 is not a true threat to the president. ‘86’ means to kick someone out, not kill them,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said. “It’s possible others get prosecuted, but 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.”
Rahmani also noted that the indictment against Comey, who has long been a Trump target, could be seen as a personal matter. The Department of Homeland Security previously investigated Comey regarding the post and questioned him by the Secret Service. Separately, Comey was federally indicted last year on suspicion of making false statements to Congress and obstructing congressional proceedings, but those charges were later dismissed.
“I think the case will be dismissed and this will be another embarrassing loss for federal prosecutors,” Rahmani added.
The scrutiny surrounding 8647 has also drawn comparisons to a similar phrase that circulated during President Joe Biden’s term: 8646. That slogan, widely understood as a call to remove Biden from office, appeared in social media posts, including those of far-right political pundit Jack Posobiec, but did not prompt similar legal action. Merchandise with the slogan is still on sale on Amazon and Etsy.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was asked about the double standard Wednesday and whether he would prosecute Posobiec for his posts, which are still on X.
“That’s not how a grand jury does its work. They don’t just look at a single image and then say, ‘OK, yes, we’ll indict,’ or ‘OK, no, we won’t indict.’ They do an investigation,” Blanche said on “CBS Mornings.” “I have no idea whether there was an investigation into the other times that that post has been made and whether that investigation yielded different results. This investigation that we undertook resulted in a two-count indictment.”
He added: “Every day there’s comments made about President Trump, threats made against President Trump. Every one of those are not indicted. It depends on the facts of every case.”
Former federal prosecutor Katie Cherkasky said that the case against Comey hinges on whether prosecutors can prove the post qualifies as a “true threat,” a narrow legal category, and that Comey understood — or consciously disregarded — the risk that it would be taken as “a serious expression of intent to do violence to the president.”
“The defense will argue that ‘86’ carries multiple widely understood meanings, with Merriam-Webster defining it as slang for ejecting, dismissing, or removing, and that ambiguity should resolve in favor of protected speech,” she added.
In a May Instagram post after he deleted the seashell photo, Comey said that he assumed the shells he saw on a beach walk were “a political message” and that he “didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” adding that he opposed violence “of any kind.”
Unlike hundreds of buyers and sellers of the slogan-bearing hats and T-shirts found online, however, Cherkasky believes prosecutors will argue that Comey is not a random poster but a public figure with an FBI background who is aware of the increasingly polarizing political environment in which there have already been multiple attempts to assassinate Trump.
As the case proceeds, the phrase and the merchandise around it remain in circulation, even as its interpretation is being tested in the court of public opinion and before a federal judge.
For Davis, who is a father of two, the message about wearing and selling merchandise with the slogan is more important than any potential legal concerns. And while he recently took time off from wearing his campaign hat, he now plans to wear the merch every day until his congressional election.
“I am disappointed in America right now, and I’ve never said that. I’ve been in the military. I’m a patriot. I love this country,” Davis added. “This isn’t about being left or right for me. I’m not even a Democrat. This is about people feeling like they’re allowed to speak without getting targeted.”