The term “8647” appeared almost 5,000 times in public comments submitted via controversial QR codes that were posted at National Park Service (NPS) sites last year.
That same term led to the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey in April by the Department of Justice (DOJ), claiming it constituted a threat against the life of President Trump.
Taking an apparently similar stance, a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior (DOI) said “any threat against the President is taken very seriously by the Department, and this type of behavior will not be tolerated” when asked about how many QR code comments wrote “8647.”
The QR codes were put up following President Trump’s “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” Executive Order issued last March, in which Trump claimed there has been a decade-long effort to cast American history in a negative light.
Signs that accompanied the QR codes encouraged NPS visitors to report, amongst other issues, anything that might be deemed “negative” towards Americans or American history.
The signs led to nationwide backlash by park advocates, concerned about the possibility of whitewashing or revisionist history.
In a massive public records dump last month, the DOI released a spreadsheet of 35,700 comments submitted via the QR codes after KOAA filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
About 13% of those comments had the term “8647,” though many of the instances appeared to be a copy and paste across multiple NPS sites.
In Colorado’s southeastern NPS sites, for example, “8647” appeared 15 times out of over 250 comments at Amache National Historic Site. At the nearby Sand Creek Massacre site, the term appeared nine times out of nearly 200 comments.
“Americans rely on our national parks to tell the truth about our history – the good parts and the bad. #8647 #nokings #[sic] #nodictators,” said one comment at Sand Creek.
“I'm writing to express my disgust, shock, and frankly, embarrassment at what this current administration is forcing the NPS to do,” said another comment, which was submitted to multiple NPS sites. “I'm not alone in these views, and I implore you to do the best you can to protest. We cannot rewrite and whitewash our history and culture at the whims of a mad ruler. NO KINGS 8647.”
In April, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and the DOJ announced a grand jury indictment against James Comey after the former FBI Director posted “8647” spelled out in shells on a beach on his Instagram account last year.
Critics have said it’s a continued campaign by President Trump to target his perceived political enemies. A previous indictment against Comey was tossed out by a federal judge.
A DOJ press release announcing the second indictment claimed “a reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret [Comey’s post] as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.”
A potential trial is set for October if the case survives legal challenges.
“86” is a popular term in the hospitality industry typically meaning to get rid of, toss out, or refuse service. And 47 means Trump as the 47th president.
Though the DOI referred to the comments as a “threat,” the Department did not respond when asked if they had a way to identify who submitted a comment for possible criminal investigation.
The FOIA comment spreadsheet does list a user-agent string that identifies the browser and device making a comment, but it doesn’t appear to have any identifying information such as an IP address or exact location.
First Amendment attorney Steve Zansberg said the term “8647” has appeared “literally millions of times” on the internet and social media sites.
“To suggest that anyone using that term (including James Comey) is thereby asserting a ‘true threat’ against the life of the President is so patently absurd as to be laughable,” Zansberg said in an email. “Only a politically-motivated Attorney General, or Acting Attorney General, would make such an outlandish claim.”
Zansberg said no one who commented “8647” in the NPS QR code comments or in any other forum should have serious concerns about facing criminal prosecution.
But Zansberg noted that should be the case “in a world governed by judicial precedent and the rule of law. Having said that, we are no longer living in such a world, as the DOI’s statement to you clearly indicates.”
He pointed to the DOI statement referring to the comments as a “threat against the President” as a possible indication the federal government could still consider pursuing investigations.
Zansberg’s legal comments stem from the 1969 Watts v. United States Supreme Court ruling.
A man drafted to serve in the military said, “I have got to report for my physical this Monday coming. I am not going. If they ever make me carry a rifle the first man I want to get in my sights is L.B.J."
The court ruled it was not a “true threat” and could not serve as the basis for a prosecution for threatening the life of the President.
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