Columbia white man faces federal hate crime charges in alleged shooting

A white Columbia area man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with a case where a Black man out jogging near Spring Valley was fired upon, officials said Thursday.

A federal grand jury, based in Columbia, returned an indictment charging Jonathan Andrew Felkel, 34, with violating the housing rights of his Black neighbor, J.M., and for using a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence.

“According to court documents, on July 17, Felkel, while driving into the gated community where both he and J.M. lived, fired a gun and shouted at J.M., ‘You better keep running, boy!’ while J.M. was standing at the gate to the community,” the press release said.

“Boy” is a derogatory racial term long used by Southern white supremacists toward Black people.

The housing charge pertains to the right of people to free from hostile or discriminatory acts in housing situations, U.S. Attorney for South Carolina Bryan Stirling said at a Thursday morning press conference in downtown Columbia.

“This protects people where they live,” Stirling told reporters.

If convicted, Felkel faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the housing charge, and an additional 10 years in prison on the firearms charge.

If found guilty of both charges, the sentences would run consecutively, Stirling told reporters.

Also speaking at the press conference was FBI Special Agent in Charge for South Carolina Kevin Moore, who said, “Hate crimes do more than harm an individual. They send a message of fear and intimidation to an entire community, which is why we take them seriously.”

Both Moore and Stirling said the case is an example of worthwhile cooperation between local and federal law enforcement. It was the Richland County sheriff’s department that first investigated the case, following which federal authorities became involved.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, also at the news conference, said that although the victim in this case was not physically harmed, “he probably will suffer the rest of his life.”

The victim, identified as J.M. in court documents, was publicly revealed as Jarvis McKenzie at a Thursday afternoon press conference at the office of his lawyer, Tyler Bailey, near downtown Columbia.

McKenzie wore boots and a neon yellow and black hoodie with a Columbia Water logo. Bailey said McKenzie was just getting off work Thursday from the city’s wastewater department.

McKenzie, 47, still lives in fear of large crowds or being around people he doesn’t know, he told reporters.

“It’s still a challenge for me and my family, but moving forward, I’m kind of, like, coming along,” McKenzie said. “From here and there, it crossed my mind ‘this is what happened to me.’ Other than that, moving forward, man, it’s a process still.”

The case against Felkel was first made by Richland County sheriff’s deputies in July and given considerable publicity. Lott said his department charged Felkel with violating a county ordinance against hate crimes and state laws of possession of a weapon during a violent crime and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.

Lott said Thursday that, “Anybody who thinks they can go out and commit a crime that is based on hate, it’s not going to be tolerated. ... Anybody who does this is going to be prosecuted. ”

Lott’s July case was the first hate crimes arrest under Richland County’s new hate crimes ordinance, enacted in early June.

“An individual had a gun and shot at someone solely based on the race of the victim,” said Lott at a July press conference announcing Felkel’s arrest. Lott played for reporters a video showing a shot being fired from a four-door dark-colored BMW in the direction of a Black jogger near an entrance to the Spring Valley subdivision in northeast Richland County.

In the video, a blue puff of smoke appeared from the driver’s side of the car after the shot. The jogger, who was not identified other than being an adult male, was not hit. But he was “scared to death,” Lott said after the press conference.

Felkel remains in the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, unable to post a $1 million bond.

The incident took place around dawn on July 17 outside the high-income Spring Valley subdivision north of downtown Columbia.

The penalty for being convicted of a hate crime under the county’s misdemeanor ordinance is a $500 fine and 30 days in jail — far less than the federal crime maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Spring Valley is known for its large and expensive homes. “Spring Valley is the premier secure community in Northeast Columbia, SC. Our custom homes are spread out over 1,200 acres of rolling hills and mature landscaping, with many homes bordering the prestigious Spring Valley Country Club or one of eight lakes,” says a notice on a Spring Valley website.

Both Felkel and the victim lived inside Spring Valley, the sheriff said.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elle Klein and Lamar Fyall of the District of South Carolina and Trial Attorney Sarah Armstrong and Special Legal Counsel Mark Blumberg of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.

South Carolina is one of the few states without a hate crime law.

The alleged hate crime in question is an example of why South Carolina needs a statewide hate crime law, Lott said at Thursday’s press conference.

“Unfortunately, I had to go to the federal government to get someone charged with a hate crime,” Lott said.

This story was originally published December 17, 2025 at 8:29 PM.