Report: Jonathan Martin Released From Custody After Tagging Ex-Teammates in Photo of a Gun
Former Dolphins offensive lineman Jonathan Martin has been released from custody Friday, one day after posting a disturbing photo on his social media account that forced the closure of a California high school, ESPN's Kyle Bonagura reports.
Matt Stone of ABC reported the original news that Martin was taken into custody.
Michael Balsamo of the Associated Press reported that Martin was questioned and is not under arrest, and a law enforcement official told the AP it was not clear if Martin posted the photo himself.
Martin, 28, posted a picture Thursday in an Instagram story featuring a gun with the chilling words "When you’re a bully victim & a coward, your options are suicide, or revenge." The post tagged former Dolphins teammates Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey, as well as Los Angeles-area Harvard-Westlake high school. Martin graduated from the high school in 2008.
“Last evening, we learned of an Internet post that mentions Harvard-Westlake by name,” the school said in a statement as it closed both its campuses. “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 (Friday). We are working closely with law enforcement and will share more information when we are able.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, students received a message through the school’s Emergency Notification System at 7:14 a.m. PT Friday. Police reported to both campuses.
The two other accounts tagged in the post appear to belong to men who attended Harvard-Westlake at the same time as Martin. James Dunleavy, the son of former NBA coach Mike Dunleavy, graduated from Harvard-Westlake in 2007 before going to play basketball at USC, and there is a T.J. Taylor who played on the Harvard-Westlake basketball team and graduated in 2007.
This post comes a week after 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people in Parkland, Fla., at his former school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Martin was drafted by the Dolphins in the second round in 2012 and spent the first two years of his career there. During his second season, it was reported that Marin was being bullied by other members of the Dolphins offensive line. An investigation from lawyer Ted Wells found a "pattern of harassment" by Miami linemen Incognito, Pouncey and John Jerry. The evidence revealed racist, sexually explicit, homophobic and misogynistic messages were sent to Martin, including a voicemail from Incognito in which Incognito calls Martin the n-word. Incognito was suspended eight games.
Martin played one more year in the NFL with the 49ers after leaving the Dolphins. After that season, a back injury pushed Martin to retire. The summer after retiring, Martin revealed he attempted suicide multiple times during his career. It was also reported that he was working on a memoir that summer.
