A Long Island farmer has found himself at the center of an unusual encounter with federal law enforcement over a sign he chose to display. According to News 12, Doug Cooper, a farmer in Mattituck, hung an 8647 sign above his American flag for the Fourth of July, and the display soon drew a visit from the Secret Service, turning a small-town holiday statement into a talking point well beyond his property.
The sign did not go unnoticed in the community. According to the account, it upset some people while others liked it, and Cooper himself acknowledged the split, saying that some people liked it and some hated it, and that probably some people hate him, adding that this was fine with him. From the start, the display was as divisive as the politics behind it.
The meaning of the number is at the heart of the controversy. According to the report, for those unfamiliar with it, 8647 combines two ideas: 86 is commonly used as slang for getting rid of something, while 47 refers to President Trump as the 47th president. Read together, Cooper and others take the number as a blunt message to, in his words, dump the guy.
Cooper is not a stranger to public life in the area. According to News 12, he is a longtime member of the Mattituck-Cutchogue School Board, a role that has kept him involved in his community for years and that gave added local attention to his decision to raise such a pointed political sign above the flag outside his home.
The display ultimately brought federal agents to his door. According to the account, Cooper said two Secret Service agents spoke with him earlier this week. He said they asked him whether he goes into the city often or at all, and whether he had ever been to Trump Tower, questions he answered by saying that he had not.
Cooper was candid about why he had put up the sign in the first place. According to the report, he said he does not think the president is any good, does not believe he is smart, and does not consider him trustworthy, framing the display as an expression of his own strongly held opinion rather than any kind of threat.
The episode has left the Mattituck farmer standing by his statement even after the federal visit. According to News 12, the sign continued to draw a mix of support and anger from those who saw it, and Cooper appeared unbothered by the reaction, treating the debate it provoked as part of the point of putting the message up in the first place.