MLK Day Confrontation Sparks Outrage From Miami's Top Prosecutor

MIAMI, FL — Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said Tuesday she is "outraged" over video of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day confrontation between a 51-year-old white man armed with a handgun and a group of mostly black children on bicycles.

The man, identified as Mark Allen Bartlett of Hollywood, Florida, was charged with carrying a concealed firearm. Video of the incident has been viewed tens of thousands of times after being posted on social media by a group called Dream Defenders Action.

Subscribe to Miami Patch's free email news alerts and newsletters

Bartlett can be seen carrying — but not pointing the weapon at the children — as he approached them on Brickell Avenue around the Brickell Bridge. He can be heard using racial slurs as a bystander twice warned him that he was going to be on the news.

“I am outraged at the reported acts depicted in the videos taken during this incident," said Fernandez Rundle. "I have assigned my chief of our Hate Crimes Unit to immediately investigate and handle this case."

Fernandez Rundle said she also spoke with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina on Tuesday regarding the incident.

"I am committed to filing the appropriate charges and to vigorously prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law," Fernandez Rundle added.

Bartlett, who is self-employed, was taken into custody during a felony traffic stop of his Range Rover not far from the confrontation around 5 :40 p.m. Monday, according to Miami police. Arrest documents said police recovered a loaded Springfield Armory XD9 handgun from a rear pouch of the front passenger side of Bartlett's vehicle.

"While in custody, the defendant spontaneously stated, why am I being arrested when those kids are free to ride around," according to arrest documents. "I did pull out my gun but I never pointed it at them."

A woman seen in the video was identified by news organizations as Bartlett's girlfriend. She can be heard yelling that one of the children rolled over her foot with his bicycle, saying "don't touch me you bunch of thugs."

Local 10 News reported that Bartlett said he took out his gun because his girlfriend, identified as Dana Scalione, was outnumbered by the teens.

"All I see is 15 people running across the street toward my girlfriend — over the median, toward my girlfriend," he was told the television station. "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."

The group that posted the video said that the incident is more than "about some white person" using racial slurs.

"These kids were on the bridge to protest the demolition of their homes," the group said. "This is about affordable and public housing in Miami."

Addressing reporters early Tuesday evening, Dwight Wells of the group said he would like to see additional charges filed in the case. He said that if any of the children used racial slurs during the incident they were "provoked" to do so.

"We're talking about a guy with a gun in his hands," Wells said. "We're not talking about kids."

Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle photo by Paul Scicchitano