A white U.S. soldier was arrested Wednesday after a video of him harassing and shoving a black man in a South Carolina gated community went viral.
Jonathan Pentland, 42, was charged with third-degree assault and battery following the aggressive encounter on Monday, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said.
Pentland, a drill sergeant 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 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.
(Richland County Sheriff’s Department)
Officials at Fort Jackson, the U.S. Army’s largest initial entry training center, said they were currently investigating the incident.
Fort Jackson Commanding General Brig. Gen. Beagle, Jr wrote on Twitter: “This is by no means condoned by any service member. We will get to the bottom of this ASAP.”
If convicted of the charges, Pentland faces 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.
He was being held in the Richland County Jail, according to online records.