FORT STEWART, Ga. — A United States Army Second Lieutenant has been suspended pending an investigation into an anti-Semitic statement he made on social media. 

What You Need To Know

  • 2nd Lieutenant Nathan Freihofer is being investigated by the army for making reference to the Holocaust in a joke on TikTok

  • Freihofer was a popular creator with nearly 3 million followers as of Monday; his account has since been taken down

  • Freihofer was removed from any and all leadership positions pending the investigation

2nd Lt. Nathan Freihofer, who boasted nearly 3 million followers on the popular video-sharing app TikTok as of Monday, shared a video to his account where he made a joke about the Holocaust. Freihofer’s account and the video appear to have been removed from TikTok, but recordings of the video circulating on Twitter and Facebook racked up thousands of views. 

The 23-year-old began the video by saying he would never be verified on TikTok because he makes too many “dark jokes.” Freihofer also captioned the video, “For legal reasons this is a joke.” 

After his attempt at humor, he concluded the video with, “and if you get offended get the f*** out because it’s a joke, don’t be a p****." 

Neither Army officials nor Jewish advocacy groups were laughing.

The Auschwitz Memorial official Twitter account immediately called out the video, urging the TikTok personality to “take this lesson to learn why you hurt real people & their memory.” 

August 31, the day Freihofer posted the video, also marked the day that a “transport of some 3,000 Jews deported by the Germans from ghetto in Bochnia arrived at #Auschwitz,” according to the Auschwitz Memorial’s Twitter account. 

The Army wasn’t far behind in condemning the video. A statement from the XVIII Airborne Corp, the unit to which Freihofer was assigned, said they were investigating the incident.

“We are investigating reports of a Soldier assigned to XVIII Airborne Corps allegedly making vile remarks on a social media video. The statement made in the video is completely inconsistent with our values. We will review all facts and take appropriate action,” a tweet read. 

A series of tweets from the 3rd Infantry Division also clarified that Freihofer was suspended from any and all leadership duties pending the investigation.

 “3ID is investigating reports of a Soldier making vile remarks on a social media video. The statements made in the video are not indicative of the values we live by, and there is no place for racism or bigotry in our Army or our country,” the statement began. “An investigation has been initiated into this matter and the Soldier has been suspended of any and all leadership authorities effective immediately, pending the results of the investigation.” 

Soon after, both the Auschwitz Memorial and the American Jewish Committee took to Twitter to thank the Airborne Corps for taking swift action to address the video. 

“Thank you, @18airbornecorps, for suspending Lt. Nathan Freihofer from his leadership duties and launching an investigation following his extremely offensive “joke” about the Holocaust,” the American Jewish Committee in a tweet. “This is what a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism looks like.” 

It is possible that Freihofer violated the Army’s social media guidelines; as of 2017 they adopted a “Think, Type, Post” method that requires squad members to treat others with “dignity and respect” on both personal and professional social media accounts.

“When engaging in social media, Army team members should apply the ‘think, type, post’ methodology,” a 2017 directive said in part. “‘Think’ about the message being communicated and who could potentially view it, ‘Type’ a communication that is consistent with Army values, then ‘post’ only those messages demonstrating dignity and respect for self and others.”

Nathan Freihofer has not responded to a request for comment.