A 21-year-old US National Guard soldier who allegedly shared classified military intelligence documents in an in-game chat has now been arrested.
“A simple, quiet guy”
Jack, following the example of many family members, joined the US National Guard in 2019, becoming an Airman 1st Class and subsequently assigned to the position of computer and communications supervisor in the 102nd Intelligence Unit of the Otis National Guard. In other words, he was an IT specialist, and thanks to this, he could get access to various information, including classified information.
Eddie Souza, 22, a classmate of Teixeira’s, was surprised that Jack was identified as a suspect:
“He is a good, non-violent, simple, quiet guy. It seems like it was a silly childish mistake.”
Another of Teixeira’s friends described him in an interview with The Washington Post as “a patriot, a devout Catholic and a libertarian with an interest in guns and doubts about America’s future.” The guy said he met Jack before 2020 on a Discord server dedicated to guns and libertarian politics.
He also noted that Teixeira began sharing classified documents on a Discord server around February 2022, at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which he viewed as a “depressing battle” between “two countries that should have a lot in common.” He saw the distribution of secret documents as a way to enlighten people.
Arrest and trial
In the footage, which recently appeared online, armed FBI officers lead Teixeira in handcuffs to a car in a small town near Boston, where the home of the suspect’s mother is located.
During the detention, the roads in the area were completely blocked by police cars.
“There were about six or eight soldiers walking around with rifles. It’s a very quiet area,” said local resident Dick Treacy.
Course
Typography
The suspect is expected to appear in court in Boston today. The New York Times writes that he faces up to 10 years in prison for each published document.
How did Teixeira get access to classified data?
At a separate news conference, Defense Department spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said the leak was a “deliberate criminal act.” When asked how a young soldier gained access to classified defense documents, the general said that in the US military, personnel are given “a lot of responsibility at a very early age”.
Where did it all start and what was in the documents?
The US Department of Defense first announced the leak last week, at which time an investigation was launched jointly with the Justice Department, the White House and other US government agencies. It was established that the documents were initially distributed on a forum dedicated to the Minecraft game. The NYT publication writes that Teixeira was the administrator of one of the Discord servers from which the leak of classified data began.
In total, from 50 to 100 documents are published on the network. BBC News, which has seen “more than 20” of the leaked files, claims that their contents contain details of the deployment of Ukrainian and Russian forces ahead of Ukraine’s planned spring offensive. The documents “mention US equipment provided to the Armed Forces, as well as the readiness time of various Ukrainian units and the expected arrival time of military equipment.” The documents also mention how the US monitors its allies.
Chris Meagher, US assistant secretary of defense, noted that some of the documents “appear to have been altered,” although their structure is similar to those “used to provide daily briefings to senior leaders on operations related to Ukraine and Russia, as well as other updated intelligence data. When asked how the leak could affect military operations in Ukraine, he replied that “the Ukrainians have demonstrated their capabilities and competence in this war.”
