COLUMBIA – A soldier in Fort Jackson has been charged after a white man in a video caught and threatened a black man who was walking inside a subdivision in Richland County.
A two-minute clip of the confrontation spread over social media over the past two days, which caused protests in the area where the men clashed and provoked angry reactions from legislators while the country struggled with race relations.
What else needs to happen? It’s like a ticking time bomb, ‘said State Sen. Mia McLeod, D-Columbia, said during a passionate speech from the Senate floor on April 14th. “We have to decide here now, whether we are going to move forward in 2021 or we are going back to 1921.”
Jonathan Pentland, who according to online reports is an army sergeant stationed in Fort Jackson, was charged in the third degree of assault and battery on April 14 and released without a bond, according to the Sheriff’s Department and Richter County . The charge is a punishable fine of $ 500 or 30 days in jail.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott called the confrontation “disturbing” during a news conference on the incident at the Summit, a large and diverse neighborhood in Northeast Richland.
“It was awful,” Lott told reporters when he first saw the video. “It was unnecessary.”
Discussion photo of Army Sgt. Jonathan Pentland
The U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating the confrontation, Fort Jackson said.
“The leaders in Fort Jackson do not in any way approve of the behaviors that were approved in the video that was recently posted,” said Fort Jackson commander Brig. Gen. Milford Beagle said in a statement. “These actions have a serious impact on our community – the neighbors at the top, the counties of Columbia, Richland and Lexington and our military family.”
The video clip posted on April 13 shows a White man shouting at a black man who is less than a foot apart on a sidewalk in The Summit.
“Go away now,” said the white man. “What are you doing here?”
The Blackman says he walked in and suggested the Whites call the police. A woman not seen on camera said officers were called.
“You’re aggressing in our neighborhood,” the white man says, pushing the black man. “You better walk away, otherwise I’ll carry you (explicitly) from here.”
“I did nothing,” said the black man.
“I’m about to do something to you,” said the Whites. “You better start walking.”
Then the Witman and the Swartman deal with accusations about who started the argument.
“You’re in the wrong environment (explicitly),” the white man shouted. “Go out. Go out.”
The Whites said the Blackman was “harassing the environment.” The Swartman says he lives in the area, but does not answer questions asked.
“Look, we are a close community,” said the white man. “We take care of each other.”
The video does not show how the confrontation began or ended.
Shadae McCallum, who lives in the neighborhood and shot the video of the confrontation, said people in The Summit, a network of neighborhoods off Clemson Road, roam between the various communities and it is not unusual.
While walking on April 12, McCallum said she saw a black man confronted by women who accused him of harassing their daughters.
A white man came out of a house and was initially calm, but quickly became furious, says McCallum, who then started her video.
McCallum said she stopped recording when two black women started walking the Black Man away from the area and she thought the situation was over. But after she stopped recording, the Whites followed the Blackman on the sidewalk, knocked the phone out of his hand and stepped on it, McCallum said.
Authorities waited more than a day to make an arrest because deputies at the scene did not have enough information to act, Lott said. The video helped the case and Lott thanked the person who shot it.
Pentland is charged with assault for “slapping” the sheriff, the sheriff said.
As part of its release agreement, Pentland was ordered not to have direct contact with the victim and to stay 1,000 meters away from the victim’s workplace, home, school or worship.
Lott said he would not name the victim or discuss anything that led to the confrontation.
On April 13 and 14, however, the sheriff of Richland County released a statement and incident reports alleging that the Blackman in the video could have been the same person who was involved in two incidents in the area days before the confrontation.
A black man touched a woman and picked up a baby without permission, according to sheriff’s reports.
Later on April 14, Lott made it clear that the black man who was the victim during the confrontation, despite previous allegations, did not stand trial on any charges.
Asked if the earlier incidents led to the confrontation, Lott said: “There may be a connection to it, but that does not justify it.”
About 40 protesters showed up outside the soldier’s house around noon on April 14 and shouted, “This is our neighborhood, too!”
“This young brother could have been another hashtag instead of a living, breathing warrior,” Jerome Bowers, chief executive of One Common Cause: Community Control Initiative, said during the protest.
The confrontation also angered government legislators representing the area that includes The Summit.
“Stop being silent when you see these injustices,” McLeod, who is black, said from the Senate podium. It doesn’t just happen to people who look like me. It affects people who also look like you. ‘
State Representative Ivory Thigpen, D-Columbia, said that although he understood that something could have happened before the video, “What we did see was an assault and intimidation.”
“When I put race aside, I was furious at what I considered bullying, and I hated bullying,” Thigpen told The Post and Courier. “Clear facts must be found, action taken, hopefully mediation and solution to promote harmony in the community.”
Stephen Fastenau and Seanna Adcox contributed from Columbia.