Andrew Martinez
Luis Andrew Martinez | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | May 18, 2006 Santa Clara County, California | (aged 33)
Nationality | American |
Known for | Public nudity and nudity activism |
Luis Andrew Martinez (November 15, 1972 - May 18, 2006) commonly known as Andrew Martinez, was an activist who achieved fame at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was known as the Naked Guy.[1]
Early fame
I want ur hot cock dude
Later life
After his legal matters were settled, Martinez traveled to Europe, studied judo, and began to write a manuscript about his experiences. After his return and continued unemployment, he began to manifest symptoms of mental illness and he spent much of the decade following his national fame moving among halfway houses, psychiatric institutions, occasional homelessness, and jail, but never getting comprehensive treatment, his family said. Martinez showed signs of schizophrenia and was prescribed medication, but with little improvement. "It was an endless cycle of trying to get answers but never getting any," said his mother. "It was endless, endless, endless."[2]
On January 10, 2006, Martinez was arrested after a fight at a halfway house and charged with two counts of battery and one count of assault with a deadly weapon. He was placed in maximum-security custody in Santa Clara County Jail in San Jose.[3]
The last time Martinez's mother saw her son was three weeks before his death when she visited him in jail. "He was sad. He was tired. He said he had enough", she said. "I alerted everyone, but nothing happened". On the evening of his death a guard checked on him at 11 p.m. and he was fine, but a few minutes later other inmates reported hearing sounds coming from his cell. An officer returned at 11:19 and found Martinez unconscious. The 33-year-old Martinez was found with a plastic bag cinched around his head. He was taken to Valley Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead of apparent suicide on May 18, 2006. Martinez's funeral was held May 25. A memorial for him was held May 27 at People's Park, in Berkeley.[4] On November 12 of that year, a public memorial was held at a community recreation center in Cupertino.[5]
In 2009, his mother Esther Krenn settled a wrongful death lawsuit against Santa Clara County, which paid her $1 million and altered its policies so that family members would be notified in the event of a suicide attempt.[6]
See also
References
- ^ Record of Luis A. Martinez. Ancestry.com. California Birth Index, 1905-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.
- ^ Jones, Carolyn (May 21, 2006). "Champion of nudity found dead in jail cell -'Naked Guy' won fame in Berkeley, challenged values". San Francisco Chronicle.
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(help) - ^ Cite error: The named reference
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(help) - ^ Lagos, Marisa (October 30, 2006). ""Naked guy" to be remembered at memorial". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
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(help) - ^ Chip Johnson (2009-05-19). "How Berkeley's 'Naked Guy' met a tragic end". The San Francisco Chronicle.
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External links
- Berkeley Municipal Code: Chapter 13.32: NUDITY IN PUBLIC PLACES
- Andrew Martinez memorial site, with extensive interview
- "The Naked Guy", New York Times Magazine profile/obituary, December 31, 2006
- 1972 births
- 2006 deaths
- Activists who committed suicide
- Civil disobedience
- Culture jamming
- Hispanic and Latino American people
- Public nudity
- University of California, Berkeley
- American people who died in prison custody
- Prisoners who died in California detention
- People who committed suicide in prison custody
- Social nudity advocates
- Suicides in California
- People from Santa Clara County, California