South Carolina man shot in alleged hate crime speaks out and pushes for change

A South Carolina man who survived a reported racially motivated shooting is breaking his silence and urging lawmakers to pass a statewide hate crime bill.

Alleged South Carolina hate crime

Jarvis McKenzie, who deputies say was targeted in an alleged hate crime attack, spoke publicly for the first time about the terrifying incident that happened on July 17 along Brookspring Road in northeast Richland County.

Suspect allegedly targeted Jarvis

According to investigators with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, McKenzie, who is Black, was standing outside his home around 5:30 a.m. when a driver stopped, stared at him, and opened fire. Deputies say the suspect, 33-year-old Jonathan Felkel, who is White, shouted, “keep running, boy” as he fired.

Felkel was arrested and charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and hate intimidation under Richland County’s recently enacted hate crime ordinance.

He remains jailed on a $1 million bond.

Jarvis McKenzie: “It Will Forever Change My Life”

McKenzie, a wastewater department employee for the City of Columbia, said he was waiting for his supervisor to pick him up for work when the gunfire erupted.

“It will forever change my life and my family’s,” McKenzie said.

Despite the trauma, he still went to work that morning after calling his fiancée and hiding behind a brick wall until help arrived. But since then, McKenzie admits daily life feels completely different.

“Now I wait for the sun to come up before I go outside. I look at the door, check around the house, making sure ain’t nobody out there,” he explained. “I don’t know who is who now.”

Family Living in Fear

The shooting has left McKenzie’s loved ones shaken as well. His stepdaughter, who usually walks in the mornings, no longer feels safe in the neighborhood.

“She’s scared thinking she’s going to be targeted because of her race,” attorney Tyler Bailey said.

McKenzie added that he feels constantly watched and uneasy, even in his own home.

Call for a Statewide Hate Crime Law

During the press conference, both McKenzie and Bailey stressed the urgent need for South Carolina to adopt a comprehensive hate crime statute. The state is one of only two in the U.S. without such a law.

While Richland County and Columbia have local ordinances — and federal law can sometimes apply — Bailey argued those measures fall short.

“Right now, a hate intimidation charge here is a misdemeanor. You can get up to 30 days in jail, the same as a littering fine,” Bailey said. “Targeting someone because of their race, their religion, their gender, their sexual orientation… that deserves more than 30 days.”

He called on lawmakers to pass a bill with stronger protections and tougher penalties for hate-motivated crimes.

McKenzie’s Message: “Push the Bill”

McKenzie says his focus now is to make sure no one else experiences what he endured.

“I think they should really push [a statewide hate crime bill],” McKenzie said. “So nobody else’s family will be heartbroken or hurt just because of their skin color.”