What’s next for Fort Jackson sergeant found guilty of neighborhood assault on Black man?
It’s unclear if suspended Fort Jackson Sgt. Jonathan Pentland, who a judge last week found guilty of assaulting a Black man, will keep his position at the Army installation.
Base Commanding Gen. Patrick R. Michaelis “is reviewing his options” in Pentland’s case, Fort Jackson spokesperson L.A. Sully said. “We will provide more information when a decision about how to proceed is made.”
Former Commanding Gen. Milford Beagle suspended Pentland after video surfaced of him yelling at, shoving and hitting the arm of a Black man walking by Pentland’s home in the Summit neighborhood of northeast Columbia in April. The incident garnered national attention and resulted in the Richland County Sheriff’s Department charging Pentland with third degree assault, a misdemeanor.
Fort Jackson had said that it was going to wait until the charges were adjudicated to decide Pentland’s future at the base. A Richland County magistrate judge found Pentland guilty of the assault Aug. 23 after a two day bench trial.
“Mr. Pentland cannot comment at this time regarding anything involving his status on base or with his command,” Pentland’s lawyer, Ben Stitely, said. “We appreciate that more of the actual facts and the totality of the circumstances that led up to the portion of video that was released have been brought to light through the court proceedings.”
Stitely argued in court that Pentland was protecting his family and others when he approached the assault victim and told him to get out of the neighborhood. Circumstances involving another family and their children before the camera started recording led to the encounter and justified Pentland’s actions, his lawyer argued.