He assaulted a skinny black kid who was simply walking in the neighborhood, or at least that’s how it appears in the viral video below.
Johnathan Pentland (photo, left), 42, an Army drill instructor at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, could now face criminal charges and military discipline. Read the U.K.-based tabloid Daily Mail‘s story here.
The incident occurred in the evening of Monday, April 12, 2021, “on a public sidewalk” in a residential development near the Army base, news blog Heavy said (read their story here), which added, “The … video does not show what led to Pentland confronting the young Black male on a sidewalk in his … neighborhood,” although the Heavy story mentions that Pentland accused him of “aggressing,” “picking fights,” and “harassing” the neighborhood.
Pentland and his wife apparently thought the youth was hanging around, so they demanded to know what he was doing, and he replied that he was “walking back to my house.” When they wanted to know where he lived, he said he didn’t have to tell them. Pentland told him to leave, and when he didn’t, Pentland threatened and then shoved him.
The confrontation was recorded by a black woman out walking with a friend who later posted it on Twitter, where it quickly went viral.
The situation is complicated and simple. Complicated because the facts are murky; it remains to be seen whether the youth was just out walking, which he had every right to do, or had been doing something provocative. Simple, because concerned homeowners can’t just take the law into their own hands, they have to let the police handle it.
But Pentland probably doesn’t think that way. On the drill field, he’s the boss. He’s self-confident, sure of himself, and used to giving orders. That’s a trap. Civilian laws don’t make exceptions for people who think they’re exceptional.
I walk for exercise in my neighborhood every day. I encounter lots of other people walking. We wave at each other. Nobody confronts me, or calls the police on me. I’m not black. Nothing in the reporting of this incident suggests Pentland is a racist — he couldn’t train black soldiers if he was — or that the incident was racially motivated. It’s not being said he used racial language to the youth. In his mind, quite likely race has nothing to do with it, yet he may have been unconsciously profiling the youth because of his race. That happens all the time to young black men.
Many things remain to be determined here — by investigators, police, prosecutors, military authorities. But Pentland’s commanding general is not amused, and that doesn’t augur well for his future military career.
Pentland is exceptional. His service to the nation is invaluable. The Army needs leaders and trainers like him. Society needs law-abiding protectors like him. But nobody is allowed to take the law into their own hands. You can’t push someone, except in self-defense, and this clearly wasn’t that. Unless he was committing a crime, and the video doesn’t show he was, the youth had a right to be on the public sidewalk, whether he was moving along or not. Pentland clearly made mistakes.
The question now is what those mistakes will cost him.
1st Update (4/15/21): Pentland has been arrested, booked into jail, charged with assault and battery, and the Army has suspended him from training duties. (See story here.) Meanwhile, BLM protesters are serenading his home (see story here).
2nd Update (4/16/21): A tabloid reports the victim “does have a close relative” nearby, but is “mentally ill,” has been involved in “incidents,” and has been “committed to a facility.” Meanwhile, Pentland and his wife have moved out of their house to an undisclosed location, presumably because of the protests. (Read story here.) If someone is mentally ill and acting strangely, all the more reason not to take matters into your own hands; that’s a job for trained professionals. Frankly, if I may speak candidly, Drill Sergeant Pentland’s mental health counseling skills suck.
3rd Update (8/24/21): A judge found Pentland guilty of third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, and fined him $1.087. Pentland isn’t happy with the ruling, and still argues his actions were justified. (Read story here.)
A lot of smoke and fury here, and a lot of what if. The Sergeant has been charged with a misdemeanor, and it depends on what the district attorney decides to do. Ultimately the carge could simply be dropped. The army could help or hinder that. Suddenly the Sergeant gets new orders overseas. Could the District Court drop the charges and let the Sergeant go to the new duty station. The Army could do an administrative action, it could charge something under the UCMJ but not the same charge or charges the district attorney is going for. Sergeant can serve the 30day misdemeanor though typically a judge could go with time served or 3 to four His best option maybe to simply retire if he can do so. Something his attorney possible army attorney can advise him on.
This offense falls within civilian, not UCMJ, jurisdiction. But I doubt he’ll be able to stay in the Army.