A viral video of an army sergeant pushing a Black resident in South Carolina and demanding that he leaves the neighborhood has now resulted in criminal charges.
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Initially uploaded on Facebook on Monday, the three-minute clip has circulated various media channels before the aggressor was identified as Jonathan Pentland, a 42-year-old U.S. Army sergeant in Columbia, S.C. Pentland has since been charged with third-degree assault, Washington Post reports.
In the video, Pentland pushes, threatens, and verbally assaults a black man and attempts to force him to leave the area. The man, identified as Deandre, also lives in the neighborhood.
“Go away right now,” Pentland said to Deandre in the video. “What is it that you are doing here?”
Deandre tells Pentland to “call the police,” and a woman identified as Pentland’s wife responds, “they’ve already been called.”
As the altercation continues, Pentland escalates his anger. He asks Deandre, “What is it that you are doing here?”
Deandre responds, “Walking.”
“Then walk,” Pentland shouts, as his wife adds, “well you’ve been here like 15 minutes now.”
“Do you need help, I’m happy to help you,” Pentland interjects and shortly after, pushes Deandre. “You better walk away,” and then yells, “You walk away. You’re talking to my wife right now.”
“You either walk away or I’m going to carry your a** out of here.”
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The Richland County Sherriff’s department issued a statement about the altercation through social media, calling the video “disturbing.”
“Sheriff Leon Lott will be meeting with elected officials and representatives of various organizations today to discuss the incident in The Summit. He will be updating them on the investigation prior to a public release,” the memo stated.
“Sheriff Lott realizes the importance of putting out correct information quickly as there has been a lot of incorrect information distributed through Facebook and other social media. We want to ensure the community knows this incident has been a priority for our Department.”
According to The Post and Courier Columbia, protestors gathered on Wednesday outside of the Pentland home shouting, “This is our neighborhood too!”
“This young brother could have been another hashtag instead of a living, breathing warrior,” said Jerome Bowers, CEO of One Common Cause: Community Control Initiative during the demonstration, according to the outlet.
Fort Jackson Commanding General Brig. Gen. Milford H. “Beags” Beagle Jr. issued a statement on Facebook. He closed his message with the hashtag #VictoryStartsHere.
“Fort Jackson officials are aware of the video taken in the Summit and it has our full attention. This type of behavior is not consistent with our Army Values and will not be condoned,” he wrote. “We have begun our own investigation and are working with the local authorities. “Thank you to the community for bringing this to our attention and we will get to the bottom of this ASAP.”
On Wednesday, Pentland was charged and detained at the Richland County jail. According to online records, he has yet to hire a lawyer but he issued a personal recognizance bond. If convicted, Pentland faces up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.
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