CAPE CORAL, Fla. — The Department of Homeland Security says it arrested a Cape Coral man on Thursday morning. They said they had a warrant to search his home, because he made threats against law enforcement, including ICE agents, on social media.
Family identified the man as 72-year-old Joe Giancola.
They say Giancola lives in a home on Chiquita Blvd with his daughter and her family. At 6 am Thursday, they say they woke up to federal agents at their front door.
“I told my wife and our children, ‘Get on the floor!,'" Joe's daughter Anna said. "I go to the front door and there’s a tank in my yard. A tank! Breaking down my door!”
Watch the video of agents going into the house here:
The doorbell camera also shows the family, including Joe, come out of the house.
Watch the video Joe come out of the house with his hands up here:
“Apparently they wanted my father for some reason, I'm assuming for something stupid he posted on Facebook," Anna said.
Federal investigators have not said exactly what the post was. A federal judge signed the warrant on October 27.
Joe Giancola was a lawyer in Ohio before moving to Florida about 15 years ago, according to his family. He is a registered nurse here and also worked as a part time college professor.
His family says federal agents took Giancola's computer hardware.
Anna says the agents didn't tell her why they were there or give her a warrant until they left, about 2-and-a-half hours after they arrived. She says the agents ransacked her home.
“I just don’t feel safe," she said. "With the door broken, I feel like someone’s gonna hurt us.”
