Man Brandishes Firearm, Racially Abuses Black Teens During Florida Gun Control Protest

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a number of people across South Florida participated in the annual “Wheels Up, Guns Down” event to protest gun violence and to show there are better things to do than indulging in crime. Police arrested more than a dozen protesters, seized several all-terrain vehicles (ATV) that were not allowed on city roads and also handed out traffic tickets.

In Brickell, a man, identified as 51-year-old Mark Allen Bartlett, pulled a gun on a group of black youth and yelled racial slurs at them. He was arrested by the police.

In a video captured by a member of the Dream Defenders — a Florida-based civil rights group formed close to the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement — shows a woman screaming at a group of young boys who were participating in the event for blocking the roadway. After this, Bartlett is seen getting out of his car, waving a gun and racially abusing the boys.

The woman got into a heated confrontation with the boys who continued to protest even after being displaced from the Liberty Square area. After this, she accused one of the riders of running over her foot. When they denied it, she yelled at them to not touch her and called them "a bunch of thugs." The video shows the boys moving away from the woman as she approached them.

As she started walking away, Bartlett ran to the group with a gun. He asked the woman who ran over her foot and when she pointed a protester, Bartlett confronted them. “Get the f--- out of here, you f------ piece of s---!” he yelled.

“You f------ losers. You f------ stupid n------. You’re all f------ dumb-a—f------ n------,” he said while pacing around the group. Even as he walked away, he kept on calling the kids the N-word.

Police arrested Bartlett and charged him with carrying a concealed weapon. He was held for a $5,000 bond.

Dream Defenders tweeted about Bartlett’s arrest Monday evening along with his mugshot where was seen smiling. Twitter users responded to the update with comments like, “He looks crazy” and “Look how happy he is to be racist.” The group also said Bartlett was charged for concealed firearm and not for the threat or brandishing a gun at them.

The Miami Police department did not issue any statements about this.