MIAMI _ A former North Hialeah Elementary School teacher who posted a YouTube video declaring the school his home and he wanted to "reclaim" it with "200 armored tanks" is under surveillance in Washington, D.C., Hialeah police said.
"Hialeah police along with local and federal authorities are working together to take the suspect into custody," Hialeah police Lt. Eddie Rodriguez said Sunday of David Givins.
"This is a very significant incident and an equally important investigation," Rodriguez said. "We do not wish to compromise the integrity of the investigation or release incomplete information, until the investigation has progressed."
Givins taught at North Hialeah Elementary for 13 years before his 2014 firing over what Miami-Dade County Public Schools called "certification issues." He says he's now homeless in the nation's capital. But he has a cellphone and enough Internet access to post videos regularly, including the Aug. 14 one that caught everyone's attention, "Armored Tanks to Seize North Hialeah Elementary."
Since South Florida media reported the story, Givins posted more videos, some based in Washington's Union Station.
"I didn't know I was on the news, Channel 7 until a dude text me and told me that I was on the news," Givins said in a Friday video. "They make me laugh how they cut and edited 600 days worth of YouTube video and took out a snippet and try to make this dude look like a criminal or the psychopath."
He said he didn't blame the school system for trying to "discredit" him, but "you chose the wrong one."
