A 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard was arrested on Thursday in connection with the leak of ‘top secret’ documents containing details of US' national security information, which caused an international uproar. He was charged with unathorised removal and retention of classified and national defence information.
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Ariman first class Jack Teixeira, suspected to leak the Pentagon documents, had early interest in joining the military, according to his classmates who told The Boston Globe that he was especially interested on the history of war and weapons.
“From a young age, I remember he would have a book on, I believe, US military aircraft, armaments, like a real big textbook," a classmate said. He added that Teixeira had especially relationship with his stepdad, who is an Air Force veteran. Another classmate said that he was ‘super quite’ and gave off ‘loner vibes’.
Teixeira was enlisted in the Air National Guard in September 2019 and has recently been promoted to Airman 1st Class and assigned to a division where he was tasked as a cyber transport systems journeyman.
{{/usCountry}}Teixeira was enlisted in the Air National Guard in September 2019 and has recently been promoted to Airman 1st Class and assigned to a division where he was tasked as a cyber transport systems journeyman.
{{/usCountry}}The Pentagon documents are found to have been leaked from a social media app Discord, where Teixeira was a member of a chat room called Thug Shaker Central. A member of the chat group told Associated Press that had a running discussion about Russia's invation of Ukraine, along with other topics including favorite guns and racist, anti-sematic chats.
The member confirmed that Teixeira nicknamed ‘O.G.’ posted reams of classified material. “Teixeira liked to chat about guns, was an observant Christian, and would often pray with group members, the fellow member said. In recent months, Teixeira had become disillusioned about the U.S. military and had begun to express regret (about) joining. He even said he’d kick my ass if I thought about joining," he said, adding that Teixeira was good at his craft and was ‘never a very, super serious guy’.
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The Discord member said that the Airman was also worried about the federal government becoming too powerful. The member further described him as someone looking to show off, rather than to inform the public through those documents.
The member also said that Teixeira had become disillusioned about the US military and expressed ‘regret’ about joining. “He even said he’d kick my ass if I thought about joining,” he added.
(With agency input)