Activists want Jonathan Pentland to serve 20 years in prison

It didn’t look good for Jonathan Pentland when the video first surfaced earlier this week.

Now, things appear to be going from bad to worse for the US Army drill sergeant who was caught on camera pushing a young Black man and demanding that he leave the neighborhood.

Pentland, 42, was charged with third-degree assault and battery following the aggressive encounter earlier this week.

Following those charges and the publication of the video of the incident, Pentland and his family had to be moved out of their home as a large number of protesters descended on the residence. There were also allegations that some of the protesters, who suggested Pentland’s aggression was motivated primarily by the race of his victim, vandalized the soldier’s home during their vigil.

Now, some of those same activists have suggested that Pentland may need to spend 20 years in the slammer if justice is to be served for his actions against the young man.

On Thursday, some demonstrators walked from the Statehouse to the Richland County Courthouse. Their demands included a call for Solicitor Byron Gipson to, “appropriately charge” Pentland with a fine no more than $5,000 or up to 20 years in prison, according to local station ABC Columbia.

Pentland, who worked at Fort Jackson, had been swiftly identified after cellphone footage of the altercation was posted to Facebook on Monday and subsequently shared thousands of times.

“The most vital piece of evidence we have was the video,” Sheriff Leon Lott said at a press conference on Wednesday announcing the charges.

The recording shows the soldier threatening a young man at the Lakes at Barony Place, a gated community outside Columbia.

“You’re in the wrong neighborhood, mother f**ker,” Pentland tells the victim, identified only as Deandre. “I ain’t playing with you … I’m about to show you what I can do.”

The three-minute clip does not show what sparked the confrontation in the first place.

It starts with Pentland asking Deandre what he’s doing in the area, to which the young man calmly responds “walking.”

“That’s what I was doing, walking to my house,” Deandre says.

Unimpressed, Pentland repeatedly demands that Deandre leave, and at one point pushes him, almost causing the young man to fall to the ground.

“Let’s go, walk away,” the soldier says. “I’m about to do something to you. You better start walking right now.”

The footage ends with a woman identified as Pentland’s wife telling Deandre that he had “picked a fight with some random young lady” in the neighborhood – a claim the young man denies.

Deputies at the scene handed Pentland a citation for malicious injury to property for slapping Deandre’s phone out of his hand, according to Shirell Johnson, who uploaded the video.

Sheriff Lott declined to name the victim, but confirmed that he was not a juvenile and would not face any charges.

The young man had recently been involved in other incidents in the same neighborhood, Lott said, noting that “none of them justified the assault that occurred.”

“The first time I saw the video, it was terrible. It was unnecessary,” Lott added.