'86 47' slogan tied to James Comey resurfaces at May Day protests across US

03 May 2026 By foxnews

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The "86 47" slogan made infamous by former FBI Director James Comey was seen on signs at multiple May Day protests.

Photos captured by Fox News Digital in New York City and Los Angeles showed several demonstrators holding signs with the numbers "86 47," including one with the message, "86 the whole regime."

Comey was indicted this week for a second time by the Justice Department, with charges appearing to be related to his May 2025 Instagram photo of an "86 47" shell formation on a beach.

In the slang often used in the service industry, to "86" something means to eject, cancel or get rid of it. And President Donald Trump is the 47th president.

JAMES COMEY INDICTED AGAIN IN NEW JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PROBE

Comey is charged with "knowingly and willfully making a threat to take the life of, or inflict bodily harm upon, the President of the United States and knowingly and willfully transmitting a communication in interstate and foreign commerce that contained a threat to kill President Donald Trump," according to the indictment.

Both charges, released Tuesday by the DOJ, carry up to 10 years in prison. The move follows a wave of criticism from Republicans and Trump administration officials who viewed Comey's post as a veiled threat.

May Day Strong, which was the main organizer of Friday's demonstrations, described them as "workers, students, and families" rallying, marching and taking action "across the country to demand a nation that puts workers over billionaires, with many refusing business as usual through No School. No Work. No Shopping."

MAY DAY DEMONSTRATIONS DRAW THOUSANDS ACROSS THE US

May Day's roots trace back to the 19th century, when Marxists, socialists and labor unions called for a day of strikes in Paris and later became a national holiday in the Soviet Union after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

While May Day began as an effort to protect worker rights, the big-money political operations of labor unions today give the protest a partisan bias that is focused very much today on anti-Trump rhetoric, critics say. Approximately 600 groups with $2 billion in active annual revenues were slated to host an estimated 6,000 events nationwide for pro-socialist May Day demonstrations on Friday, a Fox News Digital investigation found.

Comey's May 2025 Instagram post showed the numbers "86 47" arranged in shells on a beach.

"Cool shell formation on my beach walk…," Comey captioned the post. It was later deleted.

Fox News' David Spunt, Bill Mears and Jake Gibson, as well as Fox News Digital's Asra Nomani, Louis Casiano and Preston Mizell contributed to this report.