COLUMBIA, S.C. — A trial is underway for a Fort Jackson soldier charged in an incident captured on video that went viral around the nation.
Jonathan Pentland was in Richland County Central Magistrate Court Friday where he faces a count of assault and battery in the third degree.
On April 12 of this year a cell phone video showed Pentland having a confrontation with another man who was supposedly walking through the Summit neighborhood where Pentland lives.
Pentland is currently suspended from Fort Jackson.
Friday's hearing began with a pre-trial session, where the defense called six witnesses to the stand including the alleged victim, two neighbors who were there at the time of the incident, as well as Pentland and his wife, Cassie Pentland.
One of the neighbors, Kimberly Hernandez, and Cassie Pentland provided their version of the events that led up to the incident. Hernandez claimed the victim acted aggressively toward her and said when things continued to escalate, she ran to the Pentland home to ask Jonathan to help her.
Cassie Pentland said her husband was just trying to protect his family.
Jonathan Pentland said he'd just gotten home from work and sat down to relax when Hernandez knocked on his door. Pentland said he never would have hurt the man and that he was trying to take control of the situation to de-escalate it.
Pentland said when he pushed the victim, he believed he was taking an physical motion towards his wife and the women and he was just trying to put space in between them.
Pentland also said that when the victim was walking away with others who came on scene, he stopped in front of Pentland’s home with his phone pointed in its direction and said 'Oh is this where you live.' This is when Pentland said he put his hand up to block the photo/video and in the sequence of events, the phone fell to the ground. He says he picked it up and handed it back to the man.
Pentland also testified that since the incident, his ‘world has been turned upside down.’ He says he’s received thousands of death threats in the form of phone calls, texts, mail, packages, etc. He says his wife lost her job, her daughter had to be put into online school, and they were all scared for their lives. He said a hammer was thrown through his window and lights were destroyed with baseball bats. He says they have had to change their entire way of life.
Many motions were filed from the defense and the solicitor’s office before the actual bench trial began under Judge Diedra Wilson Hightower around lunchtime.
The state started by calling Katina Johnson who was walking with a friend through the neighborhood the day of the incident. She recalled what she saw including seeing a woman taking video and a man – identified as Pentland- shouting at another man. She said it was clear Pentland was the aggressor and it looked like a father yelling at his son. She said she witnessed Pentland push the alleged victim and threaten him and also said she witnessed Pentland knock the man’s phone out of his hand but never heard the victim threaten Pentland about his home.
Shandae McCollum, the woman who took a video of the incident, was called next. She says the alleged victim never became violent or aggressive. She said once Pentland shoved him once, she began recording the video. The defense asked her about her profession as a social media influencer and if a viral video would help her to make more money. He also asked if the recording was planned prior to the altercations which she said no.
The alleged victim was then called to the stand where he described what happened that day and why he was walking. He stated he walks all the time and he enjoys it and that wasn’t his first time in the neighborhood. He added he had walked with the Hernandez' daughters before and described the daughter in law approaching him. He said he then exchanged words with Hernandez and then Pentland came out. He said he was trying to tell Kimberly to leave him alone and leave himself when Pentland came out and assaulted him and said he would be his ‘worst nightmare.’ He said he didn’t try to attack him, that he had no reason to and was trying to explain to him that he was just trying to walk.
His testimony was paused as court adjourned for the day.
The hearing will pick back up Monday.