School Closed Over Threatening Post on Ex-NFLer's Instagram

Post on Jonathan Martin's account tagged 2 ex-teammates he accused of bullying him
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 23, 2018 5:34 PM CST
Ex-NFLer Questioned Over Post Threatening 'Revenge'
In this 2013 file photo, former NFL Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Jonathan Martin attends the Southern California-Stanford NCAA college football game in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

A Los Angeles prep school was closed Friday and a former NFL player detained by police over an Instagram post showing a gun and shells on a bed, Deadspin reports. According to the Los Angeles Times, the image was posted to a verified Instagram account belonging to ex-offensive lineman Jonathan Martin. It read: "When you're a bully victim & a coward, your options are suicide, or revenge." Tags for the Miami Dolphins and prep school Harvard-Westlake, of which Martin is an alum, were written on the gun in the photo. Martin's former Dolphins teammates Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey were also tagged in the post. Martin complained of bullying by Pouncey and Incognito in 2013, and an investigation later concluded those two and a third player harassed Martin, ABC News reports.

Harvard-Westlake closed its two campuses on Friday morning. "The safety of our students, faculty, and staff is always our primary concern," the school said in an email to students. "So, out of an abundance of caution, we made the decision to close school today." ABC News producer Matt Stone tweets that Martin was detained by the Los Angeles Police Department for questioning, though he hasn't been arrested. Martin retired from the NFL in 2015. That same year he admitted he tried to kill himself during his career. "According to Martin, in middle school and high school he was the victim of bullying, which diminished his self-confidence and self-esteem and contributed to what he self-diagnosed as periodic bouts of depression," states a report that followed the investigation into Martin's bullying. Police say an investigation into the Instagram post is ongoing. (More Jonathan Martin stories.)

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