COLUMBIA – Fort Jackson officials are investigating the actions of a white soldier who was caught on video berating a black man for walking in a subdivision of Richland County, an incident that sparked a protest.
“This type of behavior is inconsistent with our military values and will not be condoned,” the spokeswoman for Fort Jackson, LA Sully, said in a statement on April 14. “We have started our own investigation and are working with the local authorities.”
The two minute clip posted to Twitter on April 13 shows a man standing less than a foot away from the black man standing on a sidewalk in The Summit, a large diverse neighborhood in Northeast Richland.
“Now go away”, the man says. “What are you doing here?”
The black man said he was walking and suggested that the white man call the police. A woman who has not been seen on camera says agents have been called.
“You’re attacking our neighborhood,” says the white man, pushing the black one. “You better run away or I’ll carry you (expletive) out of here.”
“I didn’t do anything,” says the black man.
“I’m going to hurt you,” says the white man. “You better start walking.”
Then the white and the black exchange accusations about who started the fight.
“You’re in the wrong area, (expletives),” the white man shouts. “Get out. Get out.”
The white man said the black man was “harassing the neighborhood.” The black man says he lives nearby, but doesn’t answer questions asking where.
“Look, we are a close-knit community,” says the white man. “We take care of each other.”
The video does not show how the confrontation started or ended.
Richland County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that the black man in the video is charged with two incidents in the same neighborhood days prior to the confrontation. A man touched a woman and picked up a baby without permission, according to incident reports from the sheriff’s office.
There was no word as to whether any delegates had filed any charges. The names of the suspect and victims were redacted in the reports sent to The Post and Courier.
About 40 protesters appeared outside the soldier’s house on April 14, shouting “This is our neighborhood too!”
“This young brother could have been another hashtag instead of a living, breathing warrior,” Jerome Bowers, CEO of One Common Cause: Community Control Initiative, said during the protest.
Four Richland County Sheriff’s vehicles camped just down the street from the protest, and another six patrol cars were parked at the nearby Brookland Baptist Church with officers outside the cars.
Neighbors from further afield gathered on the sidewalk, some confused about the source of the activity in what one resident said is a typically quiet subdivision with newly built homes and houses still under construction.
No one opened the door at the soldier’s house.
Shadae McCallum, who lives nearby and shot the video of the confrontation, said that people in The Summit, a network of neighborhoods on Clemson Road, often walk between the different communities and it’s not uncommon.
On an April 12 walk, McCallum said she saw a black man confronted by women who accused him of harassing their daughters.
A white man came out of a house and was calm at first, but quickly became enraged, said McCallum, who then started working on her video.
McCallum said she stopped recording when two black women started walking the black man out of the area and she thought the situation was over.
But after she stopped recording, the white man followed the black man across the sidewalk, knocked the phone out of his hand and stepped on it, McCallum said.
Fort Jackson, the largest Army training camp in Columbia, did not identify the soldier.
“This is not permitted by any member of the service”, a tweet from the Fort Jackson commander’s report, said. “We will find out as soon as possible.”
Brig. General Milford Beagle, the fort commander, issued a statement on April 14 thanking the community “for bringing it to our attention.”
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department said it was investigating the confrontation.
Sheriff Leon Lott plans to meet with elected officials and civil society representatives to discuss the incident before making a public statement, the department said on April 14. Lott will hold a press conference at 5:00 PM.
“Sheriff Lott realizes the importance of spreading correct information quickly, as a lot of false information has been spread through Facebook and other social media,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement. “The video itself is very disturbing and has been a great help in our research.”
State Senate Mia McLeod, a Democrat whose district includes The Summit, delivered a passionate speech from the Senate floor asking her colleagues to stand up against injustice.
“What more needs to be done? It’s like a ticking time bomb,” McLeod said from the Senate podium. “We have to decide here and now whether to move forward in 2021 or go back to 1921.”
State Representative Ivory Thigpen, a Democrat representing The Summit, understanding that something could have happened before the video, “What we did see was, in my opinion, an attack and intimidation.”
“Race aside, I was furious about what I saw as bullying and I hate bullies,” Thigpen told The Post and Courier. “Clear facts must be found, actions taken, hopefully mediation and resolution to promote harmony in the community.”
Stephen Fastenau and Sean Adcox contributed from Columbia.
This is a story in development and will be updated.