Man who used slurs, pulled gun on teens faces lawsuit as state expands hate-crime probe
The black Miami teens confronted by a gun-wielding white man hurling racial slurs on Martin Luther King Jr. Day plan on filing a civil lawsuit against him, their lawyers said Thursday as prosecutors urged more witnesses to come forward as part of their probe into a potential hate crime.
The announcement was made Thursday at a press conference called by lawyers for the four teenagers, who earlier in the morning began giving sworn testimony to Miami-Dade prosecutors. The teens, between the ages of 13 and 18, made their first public appearance but declined to speak.
On Monday Mark Bartlett, 51, pulled a gun on the teens as they wheeled their bicycles through traffic on the Brickell Avenue bridge to protest the lack of affordable housing in Liberty City. In a video clip that went viral, Bartlett’s girlfriend, Dana Scalione, accused one of them of running over her foot and called them “a bunch of thugs.”
Moments later, Bartlett ran onto the roadway, while holding a gun.
“Get out of here, you piece of s---,” he yelled before hurling racial slurs at them. He did not point the gun at the teens before returning to his car. A bystander called police and Bartlett was soon pulled over and charged with carrying a concealed weapon.
“The video speaks for itself,” said Miami civil-rights lawyer Marwan Porter, who is representing the teens along with S. Lee Merritt . “This individual was a racist.”
The incident, which took place on the holiday for the civil rights icon, has captured nationwide attention because of the jarring video of Bartlett using the N-word. The protest was organized by a group called “Bikes Up Guns Down,” an offshoot of other events featuring waves of riders on ATVs and dirt bikes zooming around the streets of South Florida.
The ride-out events have been criticized by police as dangerous, and often against the law. ATVs, for example, are illegal to ride on roadways.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle has announced that her prosecutors will investigate the case as a potential hate crime. Chief Assistant State Attorney Don Horn attended the Thursday press conference outside Miami’s criminal court, along with prosecutor Luis Caso, the head of the office’s Hate Crime Unit.
Horn said it was too early to make a determination on an upgraded charge.
“It’s important we take sworn statements before we make a charging decision,” Horn said.
Bartlett, who lives in Hollywood, could face an upgraded charge of aggravated assault, one that includes a “hate crime” enhancement that stiffens the sentence if convicted.
Bartlett and his girlfriend, who has not been charged and was fired from her job on Wednesday, have defended their actions. He told WPLG-ABC10 that he was rushing to defend her.
“All I see is 15 people running across the street toward my girlfriend — over the median, toward my girlfriend,” he said. “My first reaction is I have a gun on me. Whether I have a gun on me or not, I’m running to see and to protect my family. I had a gun though. It wasn’t loaded. I ran out there. You can see I never pointed it. I never threatened anybody. I just needed it in case something were to happen.”
On Thursday, his defense lawyers apologized on his behalf, but insisted no crime was committed.
“Mark Bartlett sincerely regrets and apologizes for the offensive language he used on the Martin Luther King Holiday. That language is inexcusable. Mark is not a racist and his true character is not defined by the use of this offensive language on that day,” lawyers Sidney Fleischman and Walter Reynoso said in a statement.
“Mark emphatically maintains his innocence. He is not guilty of any criminal conduct as he was legally defending a loved one that he believed was in danger. Mark strongly believes in our justice system and in the process.”
As for Porter and Merritt, they defended their teenage clients, who weaved in and out of traffic, saying they were expressing their right to free speech in a protest that was brief, if inconvenient for motorists.
“The real egregious act was that a grown man drew a gun on teenage kids,” Merritt said.
This story was originally published January 24, 2019 at 3:27 PM.