Former 49ers and Dolphins offensive lineman Jonathan Martin will stand trial for a threatening Instagram post he made in February of last year, when he posted a photo of a shotgun and ammunition on a bed, the New York Daily News is reporting.
The post included the name of his former Southern California high school, Harvard Westlake, and the names of people Martin said bullied him, including former Dolphins teammate Richie Incognito. The post also included the message “When you’re a bully victim & a coward, your options are suicide, or revenge.” The school was shut down for a day because of the threat.
Former Dolphins OL Jonathan Martin with some seriously disturbing stuff on his IG story… pic.twitter.com/NaJ8a0BXze
— Nick Brown (@NickyBeaster) February 23, 2018
Martin is facing three felony counts, and will stand trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Though Martin’s lawyer claims the former NFL player never intended to hurt anyone an LAPD detective testified that on Feb. 9, Martin looked up a story on his former Dolphins teammate Richie Incognito hours before he ordered a shotgun. The same detective also said that Icognito went into hiding after seeing the post.
“Det. Peter Doomanis further testified that Incognito was so freaked out when he learned about the post on Feb. 22, he hopped in a car with his dad, brother and dog and drove north from Scottsdale, Arizona, for two hours to meet an FBI agent at a safe house.
“He described being in a state of panic. He was in fear,” Doomanis said.”
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.
