A white officer who is not under commission is charged with third-degree assault on Wednesday after he was seen in a viral video pushing a black man out and telling him, ‘You’re in the wrong neighborhood. ‘
The Associated Press reported that Jonathan Pentland, 42, was being held at Richland County Jail in South Carolina on Wednesday.
In the video that was originally posted on Facebook on Monday, Pentland can be seen walking near a black man. When asked what he does in the area, the Blackman says he ‘walks’, and Pentland replies,’ Let’s go. Walk away. ‘
“You’re in the wrong place,” Pentland said in the video. “I’m not playing with you … I’m going to show you what I can do.”
Pentland claims to know where the other man lives and accuses him of ‘harassing the area’. When the Blackman responds to a woman who identifies Pentland as his wife, Pentland pushes him.
Walk while you are black.
The kind of hatred that pulls our black skin is absolutely ridiculous. There are so many #jonathanpentlandare in positions of power that abuse their authority and engage in white supremacy activities, just like this.
– Khary Penebaker (@kharyp) 14 April 2021
As the AP reported, the woman who originally posted the video said Shirell Johnson, when authorities arrived on the scene, was given a quote to Pentland for malicious property damage because she took the other man’s phone from his hand struck.
Social media accounts linked Pentland to Fort Jackson in South Carolina, where he has reportedly been stationed since 2019 and worked as a peasant sergeant at the garrison.
In a statement on Twitter, Fort Jackson commander Brig. Genl Milford Beagle Jr. said: “The leaders in Fort Jackson in no way approve of the behavior shown in the video that was recently posted.
Fort Jackson said the Department of Justice was investigating the incident and confirmed that Pentland had been charged.
“These actions have a serious impact on our community – the neighbors in the Summit, the counties of Columbia, Richland and Lexington and our military family,” Beagle said.
– Fort Jackson (@fortjackson) 14 April 2021
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott did not disclose the other man’s identity during a news conference, the AP reported, but confirmed he was not a juvenile. He stated that the man was involved in other incidents in the area before the video, but said that “none of them justifies the assault.”
On social media, videos showed protesters protesting outside Pentland’s home. The crowd gathered: “We will make racist people uncomfortable.”
Protests currently going on in Columbia South Carolina Jonathan Pentland NO ️ NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE pic.twitter.com/TbGLFWVS7T
– BIG BROTHER WAVYY JONEZ (@iAmWavyyJonez) 14 April 2021