Following the discovery of the leak of highly classified military papers pertaining to the Ukraine War, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard was detained in the United States.
The Pentagon has deemed Jack Teixeira, 21, to be a “very serious risk to national security” after he allegedly removed confidential information about national defense without authorization.
According to US attorney general Merrick Garland, FBI agents descended upon Teixeira’s residence on Thursday, and highly armed tactical agents arrested Teixeira outside the building ‘without incident’.
Who is Jack Teixeira, exactly? Here is what you should know:
Who is Jack Teixeira?
Jack Teixeira, who comes from a military family – his stepfather having served in the US military for 34 years – was an airman 1st class at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, according to his service record.
Having joined the Air National Guard in 2019, he is reported to have worked as a ‘cyber transport systems journeyman’ – basically an IT specialist overseeing the security of military communications networks.
He lives in North Dighton, Massachusetts – a small town around 50 miles away from Boston – with his family, and attended high school there.
Teixeira is also the leader of a small online chat group hosted on the chat client Discord, which is believed to have uploaded hundreds of photographs of classified documents.
The online group which calls itself Thug Shaker Central, has around 20-30 members who share their love of guns, racist memes and video games.
Two members of the group allegedly identified Teixeira as the source of the leak, on condition of remaining anonymous.
What was in the leaked documents?
The documents which were leaked contained sensitive and classified information about the war in Ukraine, as well as offering information on other countries including China.
They are reported to have discussed Ukraine’s troop deployments, military vulnerabilities and efforts to arm its forces before a spring counteroffensive.
Private conversations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his intelligence chief were also intercepted, along with evidence of the US spying on its allies.
The documents have also suggested that military special forces from the UK are operating inside Ukraine – saying that more than half of the Western special forces in the country between February and March this year may have been British.
The National Guard previously said in a statement: ‘We are aware of the investigation into the alleged role a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman may have played in the recent leak of highly-classified documents.’
Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, referred all questions about the case to the Justice Department. But he said: ‘We have rules in place. Each of us signs a non-disclosure agreement. This is a criminal act, a wilful violation of those.’
It is believed the documents were shared in an apparent attempt to impress members of the group, rather than to achieve any particular foreign policy outcome.