MIAMI _ The man who pulled a gun on a group of black teens who were protesting in Miami on Martin Luther King Jr. Day is now facing a host of charges that were enhanced because of a hate crime bill passed by Florida legislators.
In addition to the felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon, Mark Bartlett is facing three counts of aggravated assault with prejudice, which are second-degree felonies, and a single count of improperly exhibiting a firearm, a third-degree felony.
The state's hate crime bill allows prosecutors to increase the charges a notch. Without it, Bartlett would likely be facing a misdemeanor charge for carrying a concealed weapon and a third-degree felony for the aggravated assault charge. If convicted, it could mean a longer sentence.
After the confrontation with the teens, Bartlett apologized for the language he used, but maintained his innocence, saying he was "legally defending a loved one."
Bartlett's attorney, Jayne Weintraub of Sale & Weintraub, on Tuesday blasted the state's decision to up the charges, saying it "succumbed to the political pressure, rather than obeying the tenets of the law."
"His statement is the truth. Mark went to protect Dana and extract her from the mob surrounding and taunting her," Weintraub said. "It would not have mattered if these people were red, white or blue. This was not a hate crime."
Civil rights attorney Marwan Porter of The Cochran Firm, who has filed a civil rights lawsuit against Bartlett on behalf of at least four of the teens, called Weintraub's assertion that Bartlett was simply protecting his girlfriend "ridiculous."
"Based on what is readily apparent by the video, Mr. Bartlett intended to intimidate these children by his words and with a weapon," Porter said. "That type of conduct cannot be tolerated."
Bartlett, 51, is scheduled to appear in court for his arraignment on Wednesday.
The incident erupted on the afternoon of Jan. 21, when a group of teens were protesting a lack of affordable housing in Miami's Liberty City neighborhood by blocking the roadway in downtown Miami near the Brickell Bridge. An offshoot of the "Wheels Up Guns Down" movement that has become prevalent during the holiday, the group called itself "Bikes Up Guns Down."
A cellphone video clip captured by an activist who was tagging along with the teens caught a woman named Dana Scalione calling the kids "thugs" and screaming at the teens. She accused one of them of riding over her foot with a bicycle.
Scalione had gotten out of the SUV driven by her boyfriend, Bartlett. A few seconds after her tirade, Bartlett is seen holding a gun and telling one of the kids, "Get out of here you piece of s---," then hurling racial slurs at them.
A bystander called police, who caught up with Bartlett near AmericanAirlines Arena and arrested him, charging him with only carrying a concealed weapon. Prosecutors spent the next several weeks interviewing witnesses.
A couple of days after the incident, the real estate company where Scalione worked announced on its Facebook page that it doesn't tolerate discrimination and that Scalione had been fired.
Then at the end of January the guardians of four of the teens involved in the incident with the couple filed a civil rights lawsuit arguing the couple's actions amounted to a hate crime. The lawsuit claims Bartlett and Scalione intentionally emotionally distressed and assaulted the teens and asked that a jury determine damages.
