South Carolina Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Civil Rights Crime for Racially Motivated Shooting

The Department of Justice announced that Jonathan Andrew Felkel, 34, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis for violating the housing rights of his Black neighbor, J.M., in violation of 42 U.S.C. §. 3631.

As the defendant admitted at the plea hearing, on July 17, 2025, Felkel, while driving into the community where both he and J.M. lived, fired a gun and shouted at J.M., "You better keep running, boy!" while J.M. was standing at the community gate. Felkel further admitted that, during the investigation, he told law enforcement officers that he believed Black people were committing crimes in his neighborhood, that he had assumed J.M. was a criminal due to his race, and that he had hoped to convey to J.M. that he should "leave" and "not be around this area."

"The defendant's actions were deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon. "We hope his conviction brings a sense of peace to the victim and greater security to Black communities across the country."

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division; U.S. Attorney Bryan P. Stirling for the District of South Carolina; and Special Agent in Charge Kevin Moore of the FBI Columbia Field Office made the announcement.

Felkel will be sentenced at a later date. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison.

The FBI Columbia Field Office and the Richland County Sheriff's Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elle Klein and Lamar Fyall of the District of South Carolina and Trial Attorney Sarah Armstrong of the Civil Rights Division's Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.