Columbia, South Carolina A White Army non-commissioned officer seen in a viral video of a black man in a South Carolina neighborhood being beaten and punched is charged with third-degree assault. Jonathan Pentland, 42, was charged Wednesday and listed as being held in Richland County Jail and has issued a personal recognition bond, according to online jail records.
Dozens of protesters turned up at Pentland’s home on Wednesday, reports CBS Columbia, a subsidiary of WLTX-TV in South Carolina.
The protesters were from across the state, the station said.
Jasmine James, who lives in the neighborhood, told WLTX she “came out today because I wanted to make my voice heard so people know it’s not OK. We are simply trying to exist and be part of America like everyone else. “
“We can no longer stand by it and let it happen,” she added.
WLTX-TV
According to WLTX, Richland County delegates said they were called shortly after 8 p.m. and transported the family from the home to another location. They also closed the neighborhood to anyone who does not live there.
The video, posted on Facebook by a woman on Monday and shared thousands of times, shows a man, identified as Pentland, demanding that a black man leave the neighborhood and use obscenities before being threatened with physical violence. .
“You’re in the wrong neighborhood,” Pentland can be heard saying to the other man on the sidewalk before using an explicit. “I’m not playing with you … I’m going to show you what I can do.”
According to Shirell Johnson, who posted the video, the incident happened in a subdivision of The Summit, which has a Columbia address but is technically outside the city limits. The video does not show what started the conflict.
The recording begins with Pentland, a first-class U.S. Army officer, asking a black man what he was doing in the area. The Blackman says he simply walked and did not bother anyone.
Richland County, South Carolina Sheriff’s Department / WLTX-TV
During the three-minute video, Pentland constantly demands that the other man leave the area, get in his face and at some point push the man, who is almost falling to the ground.
“Let’s go, walk away,” he said. “I’m about to do something to you. You better start walking now. ‘
At the end of the video, a woman who identifies Pentland as his wife can be heard telling the other man that he was having a fight with a ‘random young lady’ in the area, an allegation which the Blackman then denies.
Johnson said authorities arrived at the scene and quoted Pentland only for the malicious property injury because they knocked the man’s phone out of his hand and cracked it.
Officials from Fort Jackson, the U.S. military’s largest basic training facility, said Wednesday that they are investigating the incident. On one of his Twitter accounts, base officials also said the U.S. Department of Justice authorities are also investigating.
According to social media accounts linked to Pentland, he has been stationed at Fort Jackson since 2019 and works as a drill sergeant at the garrison, a 53,000-acre complex that trains 50% of all soldiers and 60% of the women who enter the military. every year.
Asked Jackson for his response to the video, Fort Jackson commanded Brig. Genl Milford H. Beagle Jr. said that the behavior shown in the video is in no way approved by any service member.
“We will get to the end of the matter as soon as possible,” he said.
On his official Facebook page, Beagle said that army officials “have started our own investigation and are working with local authorities.”
Earlier this year, the Department of Defense announced that Beagle would take over as Commanding General in Fort Drum, New York, to be succeeded in Fort Jackson by Brig. Genl Patrick R. Michaelis. An official transfer date has not been announced.
Comments on the video said they worked to the Sheriff’s Department of Richland to file additional charges.
In a release released early Wednesday, a department spokesman said delegates had been sent to the area for an assault call involving one of the men several days before the video, and that all cases were being investigated.
During an afternoon news conference, Sheriff Leon Lott said the other man in the video was not a juvenile, but did not want to reveal his name. Lott said the man was involved in other incidents in the area in the days before the video, but said “none of them justifies the assault.”
“The first time I saw the video, it was awful. It was unnecessary,” Lott said. He noted that he met with community leaders and elected officials before speaking to reporters. Lott said his investigators handed over their case to prosecutors, which determines what charge should be charged against Pentland.
Pentland did not immediately respond to a request for comment. If convicted, he faces up to 30 days in prison and a $ 500 fine.
State Senator Mia McLeod, who represents the area, said in the Senate floor on Wednesday that she had spent much of the previous day discussing the incident and plans to meet with the sheriff later that day.
“My boys have a freaking right to life,” said McLeod, who is Black. ” Another unarmed black man may have died today because he was walking in a neighborhood, which I think is adjacent to him and doing absolutely nothing. ‘