A pro-fascist, white supremacist YouTuber operating under the name “Zoltanous HN” claimed last week to be a soldier deployed to Washington, D.C., to assist with the federal response to protests after George Floyd, a black man, was killed by a white police officer. Details about the YouTuber’s life shared months ago to a small, obscure chat room make it likely he is the Ohio National Guard soldier who was pulled from his mission in the capital city last week for expressing white supremacist views.
“Well lads it’s time, you will hear of me either tonight or tomorrow in the news,” a June 2 message on a Telegram channel linked to his YouTube presence stated. He posted an acronym coined by white supremacists for “race and holy war.”
“They activated my unit and we’re getting real ammunition to shoot and kill,” he wrote. “Rahowa.”
On June 5, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced that a member of the state’s National Guard had been suspended and removed from a mission in Washington after the FBI found he had expressed white supremacist views. The Ohio National Guard stated the member was part of Company C, 1st Battalion, 148th Infantry Regiment.
I want to take a moment to address a situation regarding a member of the @OHNationalGuard, who was removed from the mission in Washington, DC, after the FBI uncovered information that this Guardsman expressed white supremacist ideology on the internet prior to the assignment.
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) June 5, 2020
“Zoltanous HN,” as he operates online, may have been that solider.
Right Wing Watch was unable to confirm the exact personal identity of the owner of “Zoltanous HN” social media accounts, for which little information is available. When reached via email, the FBI declined to comment. The Ohio National Guard said the suspended member was a private first class, has been a member since May 2018, and was alleged to have ties to an “extremist organization.” The Guard declined to comment further or provide the soldier’s name due to the investigation’s ongoing status.
The "Zoltanous HN" YouTube channel began uploading videos seven months ago, primarily sharing archival films of fascist politicians, promotional material from extremist groups, and clips of far-right speakers. Most of the videos uploaded to the YouTube channel have less than 1,000 views and his channel has about 1,500 subscribers.
The "about" section of the channel states: “I’m a Dissident Right content creator who uploads archived videos that agree with the Third Position from economics, philosophy to just generally normal politics. Enjoy the channel, Hail Victory!” In 2016, Chip Berlet, writing at Political Research Associates, identified “Third Position” as a form of fascism that “seeks to overthrow existing governments and replace them with monocultural nation states built around the idea of supremacist racial nationalism and/or supremacist religious nationalism.” Hail Victory is the English translation of the Nazi victory salute “Sieg Heil.”
In a Telegram chat room for fans of his video content, the video creator disclosed information about his personal life that align with what is known about the suspended soldier.
"Zoltanous HN" mentioned in chats with fans being from Huber Heights, Ohio, and alluded to serving in the military several times. He wrote on April 17 that he was “being sent” to a correctional facility in Marion, Ohio, the same day Ohio announced it was training National Guard troops to respond to a COVID-19 outbreak at the prison. After another user claimed they also lived in Ohio, "Zoltanous HN" wrote: “My unit is like 3 hours away from Dayton.” The unit the Ohio National Guard said the suspended soldier belonged to is headquartered in Walbridge, Ohio, which—depending on the route and where the video creator lives exactly—is about three hours away from Huber Heights.
Announcing that he would be sent to Washington, "Zoltanous HN" posted a photo of military equipment on a soldier’s cot with the caption “it’s time.” He later sent a photo of his gear piled with others, writing that he had arrived in Washington. “We got live ammo, riot gear and tear gas,” he wrote.
After news broke of the Ohio National Guard member’s suspension, the online presence of "Zoltanous HN" immediately halted and his fans have since assumed the worst.
One chat member mourned, “I feel so bad and I wish there was a way to help him, but it’s almost like he committed social suicide on purpose.”