4/16/21 Drill Sergeant is Charged for Bullying a Neighbor

A giant, bald, big-eared Army drill sergeant in South Carolina was charged on Wednesday morning with 3rd degree assault, which can lead to a $500 fine and 30 days in jail.

The sergeant, Jonathan Pentland, is white, and the incident involved a guy he bullied who is Black. Both apparently live in the Summit Neighborhood of Columbia.

The incident apparently began when Pentland's wife accused the man of picking a fight with a "random" woman. Pentland, 42, shoved the man hard, and slapped his cell phone out of his hand, although the cell-phone part was not in the video.

Pentland accused the man, whose name is given only as Deandre, of "aggressing on the neighborhood." He then shoved Deandre in the shoulder. "You better walk away . . . . you either walk away or I'm going to carry your a** out of here."

"You better not touch me," the man said.

"Or what?" responded Pentland "What are you going to do? Let's go, walk away... I'm about to do something to you. You better start walking... You're in the wrong neighborhood motherf*****. Get out."

"I live here, sir," says Deandre.

"Where? Where's your house? What's your address?" Pentland repeats his accusation that Deandre was harassing the neighborhood.

Deandre replies: "I'm not harassing anyone, I'm walking through the neighborhood, I live here, sir."

The Army took a dim view of Pentland's actions, and suspended him from his "instructor duties" this Thursday at Ft. Jackson.

“Soldier conduct on and off duty must be exemplary to retain the trust of our communities and our nation,” tweeted the Ft. Jackson commander, Brig. Gen. Milford Beagle Jr. The base is the largest U.S. Army basic training location.

Comments from the county sheriff indicated that Deandre had been involved in "incidents" in the neighborhood recently, but nothing to justify the harassment and bullying he received.

Late that night, a crowd of Black neighbors met in front of Pentland's house, where they protested using a bullhorn. Someone broke one of Pentland's windows, and police moved Pentland and his family out of the house.

The videographer was a Black neighbor of Pentland who wanted the incident on tape in case it turned violent. "I just didn't want him to be another hashtag," she said. The video has had several million views.

Have you witnessed similar incidents that didn't get media attention? What did you do -- or what do you wish you had done? Should Pentland be jailed and/or discharged dishonorably from the army?
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jonathan-pentland-suspended_n_60796403e4b0bc5a3a55830b?fbclid=IwAR1NHctFQdWdDPZJU5hr3Y6woRGgqRD0AeZhlX8q4kGL1Jx17ax2dGx8zo8