Inset: The MAGA banner seen above soldiers’ heads in one of Staff Sgt. Thomas Mitchell’s TikTok videos (Military.com/TikTok). Background: President Donald Trump listens as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).
The U.S. Army is conducting an investigation to determine if a drill sergeant’s recent TikTok video, which displays soldiers doing pushups beneath a Make America Great Again (MAGA) banner, breaches military rules that forbid service members from displaying “partisan political materials” in government facilities, according to officials.
Staff Sgt. Thomas Mitchell’s TikTok activities, captured by Military.com in screenshots, initiated an internal investigation after Army officials were made aware, the website reports.
“This Is Ultra MAGA Country,” the banner in question allegedly said in Mitchell’s now-deleted TikTok post, which was uploaded Friday and showed a group of trainees doing pushups and burpees in full body armor underneath the banner.
Mitchell reportedly loaded another video after deleting the first one, which showed the soldiers doing similar exercises with a caption that read, “Cry about it,” according to Military.com.
Mitchell, who went by the moniker @11chuckdeuce on TikTok, appears to have scrubbed his account at some point after the Army probe was launched; it was gone as of Tuesday, along with his personal art page on Instagram, @jrs_artt. He had nearly 6,000 followers before deleting his TikTok account.
“The U.S. Army is an apolitical organization,” said Jennifer Gunn, a Fort Benning and Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE) spokesperson, in a statement to Law&Crime on Tuesday.
“Displaying partisan political materials in government facilities, including training areas, is prohibited under Army regulation,” she said. “We will investigate this matter and address it in accordance with established policies to ensure compliance with standards of conduct and to maintain an environment free from political influence.”
Garrison Public Affairs Director Joe Cole told Law&Crime that the investigation would “take some time” and that an update was not available on Mitchell’s current status as an infantry drill sergeant at Fort Benning in Georgia.
