The former director of FBI James Comey, is under scrutiny over a post he shared then deleted on social media, which Republicans alleged was an incitement to violence against President Donald Trump.

Comey posted on Instagram a photo of seashells that spelled the numbers “8647”, which he captioned: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term as to “refuse to serve (a customer)”, or to “get rid of” or “throw out” someone or something.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem alleged the message was a call for the assassination of Trump, but Comey said he opposed violence.

In a post in X, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said: “We vigorously investigate anything that can be taken as a potential threat against our protectees.

“We are aware of the social media posts by the former FBI Director & we take rhetoric like this very seriously. Beyond that, we do not comment on protective intelligence matters.”

Comey deleted the Instagram post, saying in a follow-up that he “assumed [the sea shells] were a political message”.

“I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” he added. “It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”

Current FBI Director Kash Patel responded on social media, saying that the bureau was “aware of the recent social media post by former FBI Director James Comey, directed at President Trump”.

“We are in communication with the Secret Service and Director Curran. Primary jurisdiction is with SS [Secret Service] on these matters and we, the FBI, will provide all necessary support.”

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said on X: “Disgraced former FBI Director James Comey just called for the assassination of Trump.”

She said her department and the Secret Service would investigate the matter.

The president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, also responded on X, commenting: “James Comey causally [sic] calling for my dad to be murdered.”