Driving on "Old 81" from Agency Village, headquarters of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate to Sisseton, South Dakota, we saw this homemade sign on the east side of the road.
While some have taken the "8645" to be threaty to President Trump in other circumstances, the Detroit Free Press reported in What is '8645'? Whitmer's pin an anti-Trump message using restaurant industry slang, back on October 19:
Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer condemned President Donald Trump for inciting domestic terrorism. "It is wrong. It's got to end. It is dangerous, not just for me and my family but public servants everywhere," she said.
Whitmer's comments came 10 days after the public learned the FBI thwarted a militia group's attempt to kidnap her and one day after President Trump spoke at a Michigan rally where his supporters chanted, "Lock her up."
The Trump campaign pointed out a small pin resting on the table behind Whitmer during her interview. The pin contained the numbers "8645." "Whitmer is encouraging assassination attempts against President Trump," Trump's campaign alleged, explaining that "86 can be shorthand for killing someone." The last two numbers refer to Trump, who is the 45th president of the United States. . . . .
But that's melodramatic to the point of silly, especially since the governor was the leader who was actually endangered by the militia plot. The article continues:
According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, "86" is slang for refusing to serve a customer. It can also mean to get rid of or throw out. The etymology for the term is disputed, explains Ben Zimmer in The Atlantic, but it has its origins in the restaurant industry to refer to menu items that are no longer available.
For instance, if a diner ran out of eggs, a cook might yell out "86 the eggs." Today, the term is commonly used in the restaurant and bar industry to refer to objectionable patrons.
According to a November 2017 entry in Urban Dictionary, "8645" is "a sneaky way to illustrate one's support of getting rid of Trump."
"The silly season is officially here. It's pretty clear nobody in the Trump campaign has ever worked a food service job," wrote Bobby Leddy from Gov. Whitmer's political team in an email to the Free Press.
The numbers "8645" can be found on a range of anti-Trump paraphernalia. T-shirts with the numbers have been on sold on Amazon for years. Heading into the election, artists have sold a range of "8645" products, including T-shirts, mugs, face masks and stickers on Etsy.
But Republicans say the term has a violent connotation and argue Whitmer's pin was meant to incite violence against the president. "Last night, I said the 'lock her up' chant was wrong. And I believe that," tweeted state House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering. "Well today, the Governor encouraged more hate by having an '8645' pin. (Attack? Kill?) This doesn’t help. This is wrong too," Chatfield added.
The official dictionary definition for "86" does not make any mention the term is synonymous with killing. One entry in the Urban Dictionary defines the term "86'd" as "To get rid of, originally for killing someone." This seems to be the definition of the term used by the Trump campaign, Chatfield and Cox. It is not how the term is commonly used and is not officially defined.
Michigan may be some distant from the SWO, but we're pretty sure whichever Dakota neighbor put up the sign on trust land on the Lake Traverse Reservation wasn't intending violence, just a peaceful transition to the Biden administration.
While Roberts County voters picked the Trump-Pence ticket by 56 percent, the precincts in Peever/Agency Village and Sisseton (county seat and home to many tribal members) favored Biden-Harris.
The SWO tribal council had endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket. The article below appeared in the tribe's newspaper after tribal elders' Biden sign was destroyed.
Images: A sign on the Lake Traverse Reservation. Photo by Sally Jo Sorensen (above); screengrab from the SWO newspaper.
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