Ex-NFL Player Pleads Not Guilty in Connection With LA School Threat

The former Miami Dolphins player was charged with making criminal threats on Instagram last month.

Former Miami Dolphins player and Harvard-Westlake School alum Jonathan Martin pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he allegedly made criminal threats on an Instagram post that closed the school for a day last month. 

Martin, 28, a retired NFL offensive lineman, is facing four counts of making criminal threats and one count of possessing a loaded firearm.

On Feb. 23, officials with the exclusive Studio City school sent an early morning message via the school's emergency alert notification system advising students to stay home, apologizing for the short notice and citing student safety as the school's highest priority.

According to online images of the Instagram message, Martin posted a photo of a shotgun with a several shotgun shells, emblazoned with the hashtags #HarvardWestlake and #MiamiDolphins. The text of the post read, "When you're a bully victim & a coward, your options are suicide, or revenge."

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Martin, who retired in 2015, was at the center of an NFL bullying scandal during his playing days and claimed during that investigation that he had also been bullied at Harvard-Westlake.

The Instagram post tagged former Dolphins teammates Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey and a pair of former Harvard-Westlake classmates. Incognito was suspended by the Dolphins in 2013 in response to allegations of bullying and harassment -- some of it alleged to be racial in nature -- targeting Martin. Pouncey was also implicated in the scandal that led to extensive investigations by the NFL and the Dolphins.

Incognito did not play the entire 2014 season, but later signed with the Buffalo Bills, where he still plays. Martin was reportedly detained by police shortly after the February posting.

Copyright CNS - City News Service
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