By many accounts, Las Vegas has been having trouble attracting customers.

Just imagine how few tourists would come if there was a homicide every time some boozed-up barfly or loudmouth restaurant patron was "86'd" from a joint.

I heard the term often in the Las Vegas I grew up in. From beleaguered casino dealers to graveyard shift bartenders, the term "86" had a meaning understood to all. It meant you were being ordered to leave, kicked out, given the bum's rush. 

Although I'm sure there were many times that working stiffs were tempted to strangle their unruly customers, they 86'd them instead. Sometimes the offenders left quietly, other times they landed on their wallets in the parking lot, but the term had nothing to do with murder or inflicting substantial bodily harm.

But that's what we're expected to believe now that former FBI Director James Comey has been charged with threatening the life of the nation's 47th president with the now-infamous "86 47" Instagram post. Eighty-six is common slang for throwing out a customer or getting rid of something. But if you're an adult, you probably already know that.

It turns out not everyone on a federal grand jury in North Carolina is an adult. On April 28, it charged Comey with threatening to harm or kill President Donald Trump after the former G-man's May 2025 post of seashells and beach pebbles arranged in the sand in the shape of the four numerals.

I understand Comey would have faced more charges, but members of Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) were foiled in their investigation by a rising tide and a kid with a sand bucket.

This makes the second time Trump's guard-dog DOJ has indicted Comey, the FBI director in the early months of the first Trump administration. He was indicted in September 2025 on charges he made false statements to Congress and obstructed a congressional proceeding. And I thought those were the prerequisites for a position in Trump's cabinet. The charges were dismissed after a judge determined the prosecutor in the case was improperly appointed.

Comey isn't in a laughing mood, but neither is he backing down.

"Well, they're back, this time about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago, and this won't be the end of it," he posted Tuesday in a video on his Substack.

"But nothing has changed with me. I'm still innocent, I'm still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let's go."

Call Comey's "86 47" post juvenile, or at least corny. He took it down out of concern that someone might take offense. Someone, perhaps, like the hypersensitive Trump, who reacted to the news of the death of respected federal prosecutor Robert Mueller by saying, "Robert Mueller just died. Good, I'm glad he's dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!"

You may reasonably conclude that a grown man who arranges seashells on the beach and then decides to put his creation on social media probably needs to find a hobby. But indict him for threatening the president? Does no one read bumper stickers these days?

The indictment is yet another reminder of what a weaponized Justice Department looks like. This kind of mean pettiness is what Mussolini's Italy looked like.

Using the world's most powerful office to indict a political enemy over something so innocuous is dangerous, but it doesn't make Trump appear tough. It should remind people of who he is — a thin-skinned bully and closeted snowflake. Feeling triggered by a picture of seashells and sand pebbles is about as snowflakey as it gets.

At this point, you'd be forgiven for suspecting Trump has seashells and sand pebbles in his head. In the wake of the indictment, he raged in a Truth Social post, "'86' is a mob term for 'kill him.' They say 86 him! 86 47 means 'kill President Trump.'"

Even with the understanding that Trump likely knows more mob lingo than most people, I can't recall ever hearing even a Hollywood gangster use the term. Seems kind of unimaginative, something that could cause confusion in the ranks.

The Boss: All right, Rocco, I want you to 86 that guy.

Rocco: You mean, like, escorting him to the door and telling him never to come back?

The Boss: No, I said 86 him. 

Rocco: Sure, I'll give him a shove and say he can't never return.

The Boss: Look you mug, get it through your thick head. I want you to 86 him!

Rocco: Right, I got it. He's banned for life, and that's final.

The Boss: Ah, fuhgeddaboudit.

I'm not sure what Comey's defense strategy will be, but I suspect he won't have to put his hand on a Bible.

His attorney will just need to get his hands on a dictionary and open it to the appropriate page.

John L. Smith is an author and longtime columnist. He was born in Henderson and his family's Nevada roots go back to 1881. His stories have appeared in New Lines, Time, Reader's Digest, Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, Reuters and Desert Companion, among others.