Home Scandal and Gossip Fort Jackson sergeant harasses black man hanging in wrong neighborhood

Fort Jackson sergeant harasses black man hanging in wrong neighborhood

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Jonathan Pentland Fort Jackson sergeant
Jonathan Pentland Fort Jackson sergeant harasses black man Deandre for hanging in wrong neighborhood. Pictured with wife, Cassie.
Jonathan Pentlan Fort Jackson sergeant
Jonathan Pentlan Fort Jackson sergeant arrested and charged

Jonathan Pentland Fort Jackson sergeant harasses black man Deandre for hanging in wrong neighborhood while walking through gated South Carolina  community. Investigation ensues. 

**Update: Jonathan Pentland has been charged with third-degree assault and battery for the incident. – see more below.

A U.S. Army sergeant first class is under investigation after captured video footage showed him berating and pushing a young black man he did not believed lived in their South Carolina neighborhood. 

Jonathan Pentland, 42, was identified after the Monday video went viral showing his altercation with the young man at the Lakes at Barony Place – a gated community in Richland County located in the Summit neighborhood. 

Photos show that Pentland has been a drill sergeant at Fort Jackson in South Carolina since at least 2019. Fort Jackson Commanding General Brig. Gen. Milford Beagle, Jr, took to Twitter to announce that the video would be investigated.

‘This is by no means condoned by any service member,’ he posted on Twitter. ‘We will get to the bottom of this ASAP.’ 

The three-minute clip (see below) shows Pentland repeatedly scream at the young man – identified only as Deandre – to ‘go away now.’ Cassie Pentland, his wife, can also be heard shouting at the black man and telling him police have already been called when he tells them to alert authorities. 

You’re aggressing in the neighborhood,’

‘Maybe you should stick around a little longer and then we won’t have to get the report by ourselves,’ Cassie tells Deandre.  

Pentland asks the young man what he is doing in the area, to which Deandre retorts ‘walking.’ 

‘That’s what I was doing, walking to my house,’ he continues.

But Pentland dismisses the man’s remark, telling Deandre that he has been ‘here for 15 minutes now.’ He and his wife then tell the young man to walk away, with Pentland suggesting that he can ‘help’ Deandre walk away.

The two continue arguing, with Pentland denying that he has hit Deandre. Deandre clarifies that he was actually pushed. 

‘You’re aggressing in the neighborhood,’ Cassie Pentland claims.

‘How am I the aggressor when someone came running up to me,’ Deandre responds, turning his attention to the sergeant’s wife, who is not seen in footage. 

Jonathan Pentland Fort Jackson sergeant
Jonathan Pentland Fort Jackson soldier charges at black man, Deandre.

‘Check it out, you can either walk away or I am going to carry your a*s out,’

But as he turns to talk to the screaming woman, her sergeant husband charges at Deandre and pushes him back.  

‘You better walk away,’ Pentland screams at Deandre. ‘You are talking to my wife right now.’

Deandre, who remains calm throughout the ordeal, tells the sergeant: ‘That’s your wife, I didn’t do nothing to your wife but speak.’

‘Check it out, you can either walk away or I am going to carry your a*s out,’ Pentland says to Deandre.

Deandre tells Pentland not to touch him, but the Army sergeant scoffs at the notion. 

Pentland responds: I’m about to do something to you…You’re in the wrong neighborhood motherf****r get out.’

Fort Jackson sergeant harasses black man walking neighborhood
Jonathan Pentland Fort Jackson sergeant pictured with wife Cassie Pentlan.

‘Maybe we should walk you home?’ 

When Deandre tells the couple he lives in the area, Cassie responds: ‘Maybe we should walk you home?’ 

Pentland inquiries where the young man lives and claims that Deandre is ‘harassing the neighborhood,’ to which Deandre reiterates that he lives in the neighborhood.  

‘Check it out, we are a tight knit community, we take care of each other,’ the Army sergeant asserts.

‘How long have you lived here,’ Deandre asks. 

Pentland responds: ‘A lot longer than your a*s because I have never seen you before in my life.’

When Deandre repeats his question, the couple become incensed and tell him that it is none of his business. 

‘Check it out motherf****r I am not playing with you,’ Pentland tells Deandre, to which the black man responds: ‘You smell drunk… You are drunk.’ 

The argument continues for several more volleys as several black women can be seen making their way to the commotion. Cassie mentions that the entire ordeal spawned after Deandre got into a verbal spat with a neighbor of theirs, who seemed to exit the scene as the couple got more involved.

The clip comes to a close with the camerawoman approaching Deandre and getting him away from the couple as Pentland continues making threats towards him.

Fort Jackson sergeant harasses black man walking neighborhood
Pictured, Jonathan Pentland Fort Jackson US Army soldier. Image via social media.

Investigation ensues

Shirell Johnson, one of the black women who came to see the commotion, took to Facebook to share the video after the woman who initially filmed it – identified as Lady Shadaeshared it with her

Johnson shared that the group of women waited with Deandre until police arrived and ‘repeatedly informed the officer’ that he was assaulted by Pentland, with the Army sergeant first class knocking his phone out his hand and cracking it. 

She added: ‘The officer told us that his supervisor told him that he could only charge the white guy with malicious injury to property and not assault! Deandre was calm throughout and he had been in that neighborhood-The Lakes @Barony Place walking plenty of times and he lives in the summit! Lots of people walk out there and never any trouble.’

In a post online, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said that Sheriff Leon Lott was meeting with politicians and various organizations to discuss the incident. 

‘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,’ the department added in their release.

‘We want to ensure the community knows this incident has been a priority for our Department. The video in itself is very disturbing and has helped tremendously in our investigation. More information will be provided when it becomes available.’  

Records indicate that Pentland was promoted to his sergeant first class in March 2020.

Prior to his station in South Carolina, Pentland was stationed at Fort Drum in New York as part of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI). He was also station in Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Of note, Pentland is originally from Mountain Home, Idaho, according to his 2006 wedding announcement. He and his wife, Cassie Dalrymple Pentland, have two young children, a son and a daughter, according to his Facebook page.

What now? 

Columbia residents incensed over the video and the mistreatment of the young black man have rreached out to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department asking why charges weren’t filed against the sergeant.

Posted a woman on the department’s Facebook page, ‘Why was Jonathan Pentland only issued a citation for property damage when he is on video clearly assaulting a young man and there were multiple witnesses stating they saw the assault? Who was the RCSD supervisor who issued the directive not to proceed with assault charges? Why were the proper charges not filed? Is this the narrative that RCSD wants to support-that a stranger can walk up to you during your afternoon walk and assault you with no consequences?”

Welcome to a brave divided America…

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