MIAMI (WSVN) - Years after a South Florida couple were accused of yelling racial slurs at a group of teenagers, the case is finally in court and one of the teens took the witness stand.
On Martin Luther King Day 2019, then 51-year-old Mark Bartlett was caught on cell phone video pointing a gun at a group of teenagers and yelling racial slurs.
“Get the [expletive] outta here, you [expletive] losers!” he yelled.
The teens had stopped traffic in Brickell with their bicycles.
Bartlett’s then-fiance got out of her car and confronted the teens.
“Don’t touch me, you [expletive] thugs!” she said.
Shortly after, he’s seen running behind her with a gun.
He’d later be arrested and charged with aggravated assault, which was elevated to a hate crime.
His attorney argued in court Monday he was defending himself, standing his ground, and the charges should be thrown out.
He claims the teens instigated the altercation.
“They are riding up to vehicles, they are banging on cars, they are scaring people,” said the attorney. “They have masks on, and they’re scaring people.”
But the teens testified it was they who were scared when Bartlett approached with a gun and began yelling.
“How did it make you feel when he was calling you [expletive]?” asked the prosecutor.
“Scared,” said the teen. When asked why, he replied, “He had a gun.”
The stand your ground hearing will resume on Thursday.
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