First picture of US Air National Guard Jack Teixeira, 21, as named as a suspect in top secret Pentagon files
THE first picture of a US Air National Guardsman arrested in connection with the leak of top secret Pentagon files has been released.
Jack Teixeira, 21, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s intelligence wing, was taken into custody after being arrested in Dighton, Massachusetts.
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Footage shows FBI agents ushering the 21-year-old into an unmarked vehicle.
Teixeira – in red shorts – is seen with her hands behind her back.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said he faces charges of unauthorized removal of classified national defense information.
Teixeira allegedly ran an online group called Thug Shaker Central, in which about 30 people – mostly young men and teenagers – shared a love of guns, racist memes and games.
He’s drafted into the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.
Teixeira’s mother, Dawn, confirmed to the New York Times that her son was a member of the Air National Guard and said he recently worked night shifts at a Cape Cod base.
During a US defense news briefing about the leak, Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder said it was “inappropriate for him to comment on the criminal investigation.”
The super leak saw pages and pages of documents published online – including information about the Ukraine war and China.
The report states that the alleged leaker, who went by the nickname “OG”, regularly published documents in the group for months.
Other members of Thug Shaker Central described him as older than most group members, who are in their teens.
It appears that the secret documents were shared on various social media sites – including video game chat platform Discord, online messaging board 4Chan, encrypted global messaging app Telegram and Twitter.
The leak was originally spotted on a now-defunct Discord server, and three former users said a large number of documents were shared there, according to Bellingcat.
According to a member of the chat, someone shared documents claiming they were classified, first typed them out with his own mind, and then uploaded images of folded papers.
“After a brief argument with another person on the server about Minecraft Maps and the war in Ukraine, one of the Discord users replied: ‘Here, got some leaked documents’ – and attached 10 documents about Ukraine, some of which the marked ‘top secret’. markings,” Bellingcat wrote in a new report.
The report added, “Posts and channel listings show that users of the server were interested in video games, music, orthodox Christianity and fandom for popular YouTuber ‘Oxide’.”
The classified documents contained details of US and NATO plans to help Ukraine prepare for a spring offensive against Russia.
They reportedly contained confidential information, including diagrams and details of arms shipments and battalion strengths.
In one of the worst intelligence breaches in US history, the leak has fueled the fire of speculation about Vladimir Putin’s health amid rumors he is battling cancer.
The documents suggested the Russian leader was undergoing chemotherapy while his inner circle could use his deteriorating health to conspire against him.
The leaked military documents showed that a British spy plane narrowly escaped being shot down by the Russians due to a missile malfunction.
According to the report, the Russian jet was flying over the Black Sea when its pilot believed he had clearance to fire.
Fortunately, the missile malfunctioned and a potentially catastrophic incident was averted.
The documents also included information about China that suggests Beijing has secretly launched a 6,500 mph hypersonic missile that could hit US defenses.
One of China’s experimental missiles, the DF-27 hypersonic glide vehicle, was launched on Feb. 25 and flew a distance of 1,300 miles for 12 minutes.
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