Global Courant 2023-04-13 23:58:23
Investigators have taken into custody an Air National Guardsman in the case of leaked classified documents that shed light on the war in Ukraine and upset the US.
Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 102nd Intelligence Wing, is the leader of a small online gaming chat group where several classified documents have been leaked in recent months, the identity of which has been confirmed by attorney General Merrick Garland Thursday.
The group that Teixeira led, called Thug Shaker Central, consisted of 20 to 30 mostly young men and teenagers who shared memes, talked about the love of guns and video games.
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A member of the group first posted hundreds of pages of intelligence briefings to the chat a few months ago, telling members that it was important for them to stay abreast of world events.
Some members of the Thug Shake Central Group defended Teixeira, arguing that the young security guard only posted the material to the group in an attempt to spark discussion and keep friends informed.
“This guy was a Christian, anti-war, he just wanted to inform some of his friends about what’s going on,” a 17-year-old member of the group told the New York Times. “We have some people in our group who are in Ukraine. We like fighting games, we like war games.”
The Pentagon, the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense (DOD). (STAFF/AFP via Getty Images)
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Members of the group said the leaked documents only started to gain attention when a member of the group posted some of them to a public online forum, where they were then picked up by Russian-language Telegram channels.
Members who spoke to the New York Times described Teixeira as older than most of the other members of the group and the group’s “undisputed leader.” One member said he had known and met Teixeira for three years in person, while another said Teixeira had access to classified documents because of his role in the Air National Guard.
It is unclear how the young pilot gained access to the documents and whether anyone in his position and rank would have access to them.
Police block a road in North Dighton, Massachusetts on Thursday, April 13, 2023. The FBI wants to question a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard in connection with the disclosure of top-secret military documents about the war in Ukraine, two people familiar with the investigation said. (AP Photo/Michelle R. Smith)
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Federal agents appeared on the Teixeira property in armored vehicles on Thursday. About half a dozen armed officers in tactical gear stormed out and cordoned off the area around the house.
The leaked documents revealed sensitive information about the war in Ukraine, including warnings that China was considering military aid to Russia and secret plans by South Korea to supply more than 300,000 munitions to Ukrainian troops.
