James Comey-style 'threat' against Trump apparently etched into National Mall grass

Eighty-six is more than just a number. It is slang that for roughly a century has meant "to get rid of" or "to throw out."

When used in reference to a person, 86-ing can mean the person's termination of employment or denial of service. To "86 someone" does, however, have another widely understood meaning: to kill that person.

'Any threat against the president is taken very seriously.'

Just weeks ahead of the primary America250 celebrations in the national capital and days ahead of the UFC match at the White House, a massive "86 47" appeared etched or possibly chemically burned into the grass on the National Mall, just east of the World War II memorial.

The numbers 86 and 47 — the latter an apparent reference to the 47th president, Donald Trump — were still visible on Friday in the live images taken by EarthCam's camera, which is mounted atop the Washington Monument.

Members of the National Guard and U.S. Park Police responded to the scene of the vandalism, which was reported around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday. The area was promptly roped off by National Park Service workers.

Park Police said that grass samples have been collected for testing.

"The deranged vandalism on our National Mall will not be tolerated," the U.S. Department of the Interior, which manages national parks like the National Mall, said in a statement obtained by NBC News. "Any threat against the president is taken very seriously by the department, and our U.S. Park Police will investigate this incident and hold those responsible accountable."

White House spokesman David Ingle condemned the act, stating, "Anyone who engages in or endorses political violence or assassination culture must be condemned in the harshest terms possible."

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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Just days ago, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss — an appointee of former President Barack Obama — barred the National Park Service from preventing an anti-Trump group from waving an "86 47" flag around in the area.

The radical group in question, Accountability Now USA, has volunteers calling nonstop for the president's ouster and protesting the Trump administration near the George Meade statue on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. The group was notified in April by an NPS agent that the display of "unprotected obscenity" was "not protected by the First Amendment and is therefore prohibited and a violation of law."

The Obama judge evidently didn't share the NPS' concerns about the group's inflammatory messaging targeting a man whom assassins have attempted to murder on at least three occasions. Moss wrote, "The term '86' is used far more often to mean 'throw out' than 'kill,' and it appeared at a demonstration that was focused, of all things, on the constitutional impeachment and 'removal' of the President."

The unknown radical or radicals behind the vandalism at the National Mall and Accountability Now USA's flag-bearers are hardly the only individuals who have used the numbers to publicly call for Trump's elimination of one kind or another.

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted in late April over his since-deleted social media post featuring an image of seashells arranged to form the numbers "86 47." Comey was charged with threatening the life of the president and transmitting in interstate and foreign commerce a communication that contained a threat to kill the president.

While she has not similarly been indicted, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) faced backlash in 2020 during Trump's first term for conducting an interview with a pin displayed behind her that read "8645." Trump was then the 45th president.

The Trump War Room account said at the time, "Whitmer is encouraging assassination attempts against President Trump just weeks after someone sent a ricin-laced packaged to the White House."

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