SC white man who shot at Black man pleads guilty to federal hate crime

For a little guy, Jonathan Andrew Felkel packed a lot of hate.

Although he’s just 5-5 and about 130 pounds, Felkel’s dislike of Black people and the rifle shot he fired in the air last July toward a Black City of Columbia worker could be enough to earn him a prison sentence of up to nine years under a federal hate crime law, federal prosecutor Elle Klein told a federal judge Thursday.

Klein’s statement was made during a 40-minute hearing at the Columbia federal courthouse during which Felkel pleaded guilty to one count of violating a federal hate crime concerning fair housing.

“Mr. Felkel fired a gun into the air and shouted at the victim, an African-American man, ‘You better run, boy!’ while in the Spring Valley community in which both Felkel and the victim resided in,” Klein told U.S. District Judge Mary Lewis.

But the really crucial evidence that allowed a federal grand jury to charge Felkel with a hate crime came during Felkel’s interview with Richland County sheriff’s deputies following the shooting.

“The defendant later admitted to law enforcement that in firing the gun and shouting at the victim, he did it to scare the victim and hoped to convey to the victim to quote ‘leave the neighborhood’ ... and that the victim didn’t need to be around this area,” Klein told the judge

“Felkel expressed his belief that because the victim is Black, he must be connected to quote ‘dangerous criminals’,” Klein said.

Felkel used a Remington Model 7400 Springfield semi-automatic rifle, which has been recovered by law enforcement, Klein said.

The hearing

During the hearing, Judge Lewis reviewed with Felkel in great detail his right to a trial by jury and the rights he was giving up by not going to trial.

Felkel, 34, who was manacled hand and foot and wore an orange Alvin S. Glenn jump suit, replied “Yes, ma’am” and “Yes, your honor” numerous times in a subdued tenor voice.

At the time of the shooting, Felkel told the judge, he was living in Spring Valley — a well-to-do community north of downtown Columbia of hundreds of large homes. He was, he said, “being a caretaker for his grandparents.”

In 2012, he got a G.E.D. (an equivalency certificate for those who do not finish high school). In 2017, he enrolled for a year in a culinary arts program. Before moving to Columbia to take care of his grandparents, he was living in Charleston working food-related jobs and staying with family.

“I couldn’t survive on my own,” he told the judge.

The judge told him the crime to which he was pleading guilty is a felony and he may well lose certain rights, such as the right to vote and the right to have a gun, following his conviction.

Klein told the judge that prosecutors and the defense attorney have agreed on a recommended prison sentence of between eight and nine years. The maximum penalty for the offense is 10 years, she said. Judge Lewis, who will sentence Felkel at a later, yet unscheduled hearing, will decide how long his prison term will be.

Besides Klein, local federal prosecutor Lamar Fyall and U.S. Department of Justice civil rights division trial attorney Sarah Armstrong are handling the case. A half dozen FBI agents were on hand.

Law officers speak

Following the court hearing, U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling and heads of other law enforcement agencies — the FBI and the Richland County sheriff’s office — involved in Felkel’s prosecution spoke to reporters, with Stirling saying that good cooperation between the agencies led to a speedy guilty plea in federal court after charges in state court were first brought last July.

“That’s nine months — that’s record time for something like this,” Stirling said, praising the FBI and the Richland County sheriff’s office.

Felkel will likely be sentenced in three to four months after a presentence investigation is done, Stirling said.

FBI Special Agent in Charge of South Carolina Kevin Moore told reporters, “This plea means accountability. It means a step towards justice for the victims.”

Moore continued, “I want to remind the public of the importance of reporting hate crimes. If you are victim or a witness to a crime, a hate crime, report it immediately.”

Sheriff Leon Lott called Felkel’s act “a very troubling case” for all concerned.

“Just imagine you are going to work and you get yelled at and called a derogatory term and a gun is shot,” Lott said.

But the reason the hate crime charge was brought is because Felkel admitted the only reason he shot at the victim is because he was Black, Lott said.

“That’s disturbing we still have people like that in our community,” Lott said. For the victim, he added, “the pain is still there.”

“Today is the road to recovery for everybody,” Lott said.

Under questioning by reporters, Lott said it was a shame that South Carolina “is only one of two states” that doesn’t have a hate crime law.

“Luckily we do have a U.S. Attorney’s office who will prosecute something like this,” Lott said. “This crime was committed solely on the hate of someone’s race — that is a hate crime.”

Felkel was also charged with violating a Richland County hate crime ordinance, which only carries a 30-day maximum sentence.

Its status in state court is that “it’s progressing,” Lott said. “That’s why we’re in federal court.”

Jarvis McKenzie, the victim in Felkel’s hate crime, was at the hearing Thursday with his wife and mother and attorney, Tyler Bailey. But Bailey told reporters McKenzie did not want to comment. He may speak at the sentencing hearing, when it is held.

Like Felkel, McKenzie lived in Spring Valley at the time of the incident.

Charles George, the Goose Creek attorney representing Felkel, did not respond to a reporter’s request for comment as he left the courthouse and held a pad up to block a photograph.

The Justice Department’s Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, of the department’s civil rights division, said, “The defendant’s actions were deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable. We hope his conviction brings a sense of peace to the victim and greater security to Black communities across the country.”

This story was originally published March 19, 2026 at 6:27 PM.