Former NFL player shuts down high school with disturbing threat, taken into custody
Former Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Jonathan Martin, who is best known for being bullied by his teammates, was taken into custody in Los Angeles on Friday after a threatening image was posted on his Instagram account, according to multiple reports.
“The individual we believe responsible for the social media post in question has been detained and our investigation is ongoing,” the LA Police Department said in a statement.
Martin’s post featured a photo of a shotgun and shells, along with the words, “When you’re a bully victim & a coward, your options are suicide, or revenge.”
Four people were tagged in the post, including Dolphins center Mike Pouncey and Bills guard Richie Incognito — two of Martin’s former teammates who were at the center of the bullying scandal.
Former Dolphins lineman Jonathan Martin has been taken into custody after posting this on Instagram.
Martin’s post was tagged to mention Mike Pouncey and Richie Incognito, two Dolphins teammates who were accused of bullying him when they all played together. pic.twitter.com/er7wyetwWd
— Brody Logan (@BrodyLogan) February 23, 2018
The Instagram post also tagged the Dolphins and Harvard-Westlake, an elite private school in Los Angeles that Martin attended.
The school closed Friday morning in response to Martin’s post.
“Last evening, we learned of an Internet post that mentions Harvard-Westlake by name,” school officials said in a statement Friday via KTLA-TV. “Out of abundance of caution, and because the safety of our students, faculty, and staff is our top priority, we made the decision to close school today. We are working closely with law enforcement and will share more information when we are able.”
Martin’s alarming Instagram message comes in the aftermath of a mass shooting Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead.
The Dolphins selected Martin in the second round of the 2012 NFL draft out of Stanford, and he started all 16 games his rookie year.
In October 2013, he left the team facilities, citing “emotional” reasons. It was revealed that he had faced hazing and harassment that reportedly included voice mails and text messages from Incognito with racial slurs and crude threats.
An NFL investigation found that Incognito, Pouncey and guard John Jerry, now with the Giants, subjected Martin to “a pattern of harassment” in “a classic case of bullying.”
Incognito was suspended indefinitely in November 2013. His suspension was lifted the following February, but he missed the entire 2014 season. Incognito signed with the Bills in 2015.
Martin didn’t play for the Dolphins again, sitting out the rest of the 2013 season before being traded to San Francisco in 2014. He was waived by the 49ers in March 2015.
Five months later, Martin wrote in a lengthy Facebook post that he had attempted suicide “on multiple occasions.”
“Your self-perceived social inadequacy dominates your every waking moment and thought,” he wrote. “You are petrified of going to work. You either sleep 12, 14, 16 hours a day when you can, or not at all. You drink too much, smoke weed constantly, have trouble focusing on doing your job, playing the sport you grew up obsessed with.”
He ended with a message for others who have been bullied:
“You let your demons go, knowing that, perhaps, sharing your story can help some other chubby, goofy, socially-isolated kid getting bullied in America who feels like no one in the world cares about them. And let them know that they are not alone.”
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