Dozens of protesters from Black Lives Matter gathered outside the home of South Carolina from a soldier accused of assaulting a black man in a now-viral video.
Videos showed a large group of BLM holding signs and shouting through a megaphone on Wednesday as they stood in the street outside 42-year-old farmer sergeant Jonathan Pentland’s home just outside Columbia.
“I’m in your garden!” one woman was seen shooting directly at the house, believing it belonged to Pentland, who went viral because she confronted a black man and said he was in the ‘wrong neighborhood, mother mother.’
“We just want to talk, we want to understand some things, that’s it,” she shouted in the video, while others said, “No justice, no peace!”
“What are you going to do? Are you going to stay here every day? shouts the main character. Other tracks show even more protesters in the street shouting through megaphones later in the day.
It was not immediately clear if Pentland would have been home at the time, as he was arrested Wednesday and charged with assault and third-degree assault for Monday’s protest.
The clip did not show what led to the confrontation, but a woman could be heard accusing the stranger of having a fight with a ‘random young lady’, which he denied.
Sheriff Leon Lott later said that in the days before the video, the man was involved in other incidents in the area, but “none of them justifies the assault that took place.”
He did not elaborate on what he was accused of and refused to identify himself.
“The first time I saw the video, it was awful. It was unnecessary, “said Lott.
Pentland has been stationed at Fort Jackson since 2019 and has worked as a drilling sergeant at the garrison, a 53,000-acre complex that trains 50% of all soldiers and 60% of women who enter the military each year.
“The leaders of Fort Jackson in no way approve of the behavior shown in the video that was recently posted.” has Fort Jackson’s Commander Brig. Genl Milford Beagle, Jr.
“These actions have a serious impact on our community – the neighbors in the Summit, the counties of Columbia, Richland and Lexington and our host family,” Beagle said.
The Justice Department is also investigating, the military confirmed.
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