UPDATE: Jonathan Martin has been taken into custody according to ABC.
BREAKING: @ABC confirms: Former Dolphins OL Jonathan Martin has been taken into custody
— Matt Stone (@MattStoneABC) February 23, 2018
Former Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Jonathan Martin posted a threatening photo to his Instagram account on Thursday evening, that has reportedly led to his former Southern California high school being shut down.
The photo in question depicts a shotgun lying on a bed, surrounded by shells, with the message, “When you are a bully victim & a coward, your options are suicide, or revenge.” Martin then tagged his former high school Harvard-Westlake and his former team the Miami Dolphins, as well as former teammates Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncy, who were involved in a bullying scandal in 2013, that led Martin leaving the Dolphins.
Hope Jonathan Martin gets the help he needs. Disturbing post on his IG directed towards Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey… mental health and bullying is still a major part of this discussion pic.twitter.com/RXVVDYj5Wm
— Rob Quinn (@RobQuinn619) February 23, 2018
If you are just catching up to this story…Jonathan Martin posted this on his IG – Harvard-Westlake (arguably the best HS in SoCal) shut down for the day. Wow. https://t.co/7HCWsB5ey8
— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) February 23, 2018
It appears Jonathan Martin’s former high school actually shut down following his social media post (he’s not named in this article, but was ID’d by @NickyBeaster) https://t.co/wSl0BtmPac
— Andrew Abramson (@AbramsonFL) February 23, 2018
Via KTLA 5, Harvard-Westlake issued the following statement on Friday:
Last evening, we learned of an Internet post that mentions Harvard-Westlake by name. Out of an 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.
In October 2013, Martin left the Dolphins team facility citing “emotional” reasons, that were soon discovered to be related to a pattern of harassment from some of his teammates, most notably Incognito. Incognito was eventually suspended by the Dolphins when a threatening voicemail surfaced, where Incognito called Martin a “half-n****r piece of shit,” threatened to slap Martin’s mother across the face and even uttered a death threat against Martin. In February 2014, a 144-page report by Ted Wells found that Icognito, and fellow linemen John Jerry and Mike Pouncey “engaged in a pattern of harassment” toward Martin.
Martin was traded to the San Francisco 49ers in March of 2014, and played for one season with the team before being waived.
Martin’s threatening post comes just nine days after a tragic shooting at a high school in Parkland, FL that took the lives of 17 people.