A new video shows a U.S. Army sergeant harassing and physically threatening a man who dared to walk while Black in their South Carolina neighborhood.
The aggressor in the video has been identified as 42-year-old Sergeant First Class Jonathan Pentland, who is based at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. The two-and-a-half-minute video of the altercation went viral on Tuesday, prompting Twitter users to band together and demand Fort Jackson to take disciplinary action against Pentland.
The altercation between Pentland and the Black man—identified only as Deandre—is already underway when the two-and-a-half-minute clip begins. Deandre is walking down the sidewalk as Pentland demands that he "go away." It is not clear why Pentland is acting so aggressively. Deandre remains calm throughout the video.
Pentland attempts to bully Deandre into leaving the area. Deandre tries to talk him down on multiple occasions, to no avail. When Deandre tells Pentland that he's already become combative, the Army sergeant grows even more hostile.
"I didn't hit you," Pentland says, before admitting to putting hands on Deandre. He tries to defend himself by explaining the "difference between pushing you." Pentland's wife, Cassie, then cuts in and tells Deandre, "Pretty sure you were the aggressor, buddy."
Pentland shoves Deandre again and screams that he'd "better walk away." He then warns him, "You can walk away or I'm going to carry your ass out of here."
Pentland's aggression continues to mount throughout the video, climaxing with him telling Deandre, "You're in the wrong neighborhood, motherfucker."
When Deandre informs Pentland that he lives in the neighborhood, Pentland begins pressing him for his address. He then steps closer to Deandre and demands that Deandre "get the hell out of my face."
The clip ends shortly thereafter, but the altercation is far from over. Details gradually emerged over the following hours, revealing that Pentland apparently slapped Deandre's phone out of his hand at one point, cracking the screen. Police were eventually called, according to a Facebook post from a woman named Shirell Johnson, who received the video from the woman who filmed it, named Shadae.
Johnson said that despite multiple witnesses and video evidence of Pentland's behavior, the officer told her "that he could only charge the white guy with malicious injury to property and not assault."
Twitter user @Angry_Staffer shared the video yesterday, and it has since earned more than 1.3 million views on the platform. After users identified Pentland, the Fort Jackson Commanding General Twitter account responded to the video, writing, "This is by no means condoned by any service member. We will get to the bottom of this ASAP."
The Richland County Sheriff's Department is also actively investigating the incident, according to Good Day Columbia's morning news anchor, Fraendy Clervaud.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Fort Jackson.
H/T Heavy
The post ‘You’re in the wrong neighborhood, motherf*cker’: Video shows white Army sergeant harassing Black neighbor appeared first on The Daily Dot.
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