In a chilling turn of events that underscores the volatility of today’s political climate, a 73-year-old man from Jupiter, Florida, found himself in handcuffs after allegedly posting a menacing threat against President Donald Trump on social media. Glen DeCicco, a resident of this quiet coastal town just a half-hour’s drive from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, was arrested on Friday, April 4, 2025, following a swift investigation by local law enforcement and federal authorities. The arrest, announced late that evening by the Jupiter Police Department, has sent ripples through the community and reignited discussions about the boundaries of free speech, the seriousness of online threats, and the ever-present tension surrounding the nation’s highest office.
The incident began when an alarming Facebook post caught the attention of authorities. Among DeCicco’s online activity was a cryptic yet unmistakable message: “ass-ass-inate!”—a word broken into segments that left little doubt about its intent. Posted at 9:33 a.m. on Friday, it was followed minutes later by another message that authorities have described as a more explicit threat, though specific details of that second post remain under wraps as the investigation continues. For the Jupiter Police Department, the discovery was enough to warrant immediate action. Detectives, working in tandem with the U.S. Secret Service, pored over DeCicco’s social media history, confirming that his words crossed a legal line from mere venting into the realm of a credible threat against a protected figure.
DeCicco now faces a single count of making written threats to kill, a second-degree felony under Florida law that carries a potential penalty of up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted. Following his arrest, he was taken into custody without incident after being interviewed by both local detectives and Secret Service agents. By Saturday morning, during his first court appearance, a judge ordered him held without bail at the Palm Beach County Jail and barred him from any contact with President Trump or his properties—a stark reminder of the gravity of the accusations. For a man of his age, living in a town known more for its beaches than its crime, the sudden plunge into legal jeopardy marks a dramatic and troubling chapter.
The timing of DeCicco’s alleged threat adds another layer of unease to the story. President Trump was in South Florida that week, attending a high-profile LIV Golf event in Doral on Thursday, just a day before the threatening posts appeared online. The following weekend, he was set to visit his Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter—less than 20 miles from DeCicco’s home—where he participated in the Senior Club Championship. Whether DeCicco’s proximity to these events fueled his actions remains unclear, but the coincidence has not gone unnoticed by authorities or the public.
This is not an isolated incident in Florida, a state that has seen its share of politically charged threats in recent years. In January 2025, another resident, Shannon Depararro Atkins of West Palm Beach, was charged with making violent statements against Trump on the same platform. And the past year has been marked by even greater peril, with Trump surviving two assassination attempts—one in July 2024 at a rally in Pennsylvania, where a bullet grazed his ear, and another in September 2024 near his West Palm Beach golf course. Against this backdrop, DeCicco’s arrest serves as a grim reminder of the persistent dangers faced by public figures and the vigilance required to address them.
The Secret Service, tasked with protecting the president and other high-profile individuals, praised the Jupiter Police Department for its rapid response. In a statement shared online, spokesman Anthony Guglielmi emphasized the seriousness with which such threats are treated, noting that public tips often play a critical role in thwarting potential violence. For residents of Jupiter, a town unaccustomed to such high-stakes drama, the incident has sparked a mix of shock and introspection. DeCicco’s Facebook page, now a focal point of the investigation, reportedly contained a stream of anti-Trump sentiments, though it’s uncertain how long his rhetoric had been escalating before it reached this breaking point.
As the legal process unfolds, questions linger about what drove DeCicco to post such a message and whether he intended to act on it. Authorities have not disclosed whether they uncovered any weapons or concrete plans during their investigation, leaving the public to wonder about the line between online bravado and real-world danger. For now, DeCicco remains behind bars, his fate in the hands of a justice system tasked with balancing free expression against the imperative of public safety. In a nation already grappling with division and unrest, this latest episode is a sobering call to confront the consequences of words wielded as weapons.