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Jack Teixeira

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Jack Teixeira
Man standing in front of mirror, taking a picture of oneself
Official portrait, 2019–2023
Born2001 (age 22–23)
Known forAllegedly disclosing classified documents
Criminal chargeViolating the Espionage Act
Military career
Service / branchMassachusetts Air National Guard
Years of service
  • 2019–present
RankAirman first class
Unit102nd Intelligence Wing
Awards

Jack Douglas Teixeira (born 2001) is an American airman in the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. In April 2023, Teixeira was charged with violating the Espionage Act after allegedly disclosing hundreds of Pentagon documents on a Discord server, leading to his arrest. He was charged with the "unauthorized retention and transmission" of classified United States government documents.

Background

Early life

Teixeira attended Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School in North Dighton, Massachusetts, graduating in 2020

Teixeira grew up in Dighton, Massachusetts. Teixeira's stepfather is a retired master sergeant in the United States Air Force.[2] His stepfather and stepbrother worked at Joint Base Cape Cod.[3]

Teixeira is of Portuguese descent; his grandfather immigrated to the United States from São Miguel Island.[4] In 2020, Teixeira graduated from Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School, but missed his graduation ceremony for training obligations at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.[5][6][7] According to CNN reporting, he was recalled by one named school classmate as being "a pleasant and quiet kid... sometimes picked on" and without many friends, and as having "a fascination with anything 'military-related' from an early age."[8]

Other students interviewed by CNN, unspecified in number and requiring anonymity for use of their statements, recalled Teixeira "making comments they perceived as racist" or his "mumbling derogatory things about people under his breath", though noting that he "didn’t behave in a manner that rose to the level where 'people felt the need to report him'".[8] One self-identified friend interviewed by the Washington Post described Teixeira as "a devout Catholic and a libertarian with an interest in guns and doubts about America’s future".[6] One of the students interviewed by CNN that asked not to be identified "recalled him showing up for school wearing a shirt with an AR-15 on it the day after the mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017."[8]

Thug Shaker Central

During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Teixeira, under the username "jackthedripper",[9] is alleged to have formed a Discord server with several close friends known as "Thug Shaker Central", after they had met in another Discord server for a military YouTuber known as Oxide, and were subsequently banned from Oxide's sever after their constant trolling.[10] The server's members are reported to have often played the open-world video game Project Zomboid; Teixeira shared in-game weapons with the server's members and became its administrator. According to one member of the group speaking to The New York Times, Teixeira was "a Christian, antiwar, [and] just wanted to inform some of his friends about what’s going on."[5].

Military service

Upon graduating from Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School, Teixeira joined the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard as a Cyber Transport Systems journeyman in September 2019.[11] Teixeira was stationed at Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod.[12] In July 2022, Teixeira was promoted to airman first class.[13] As part of his role, Teixeira would have had higher security clearance.[14]

Publication of leaked material

Main article: 2023 Pentagon document leaks

Teixeira is alleged to have regularly shared classified information on the online chat service Discord on a server called "Thug Shaker Central", parsed from documents he read, according to The Washington Post.[15] According to the New York Times, some chat members struggled to understand the summaries or did not take them seriously.[5] In October 2022, Teixeira is alleged to have posted the first of several sets of classified documents on the server.[5]

On the morning of April 13, 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took Teixeira into custody at his mother's residence in Dighton.[11] Attorney General Merrick Garland described the accused's behavior as "bravado not ideology, despite [his allegedly having] sharing information about the Ukraine war and other top national security issues".[16] Teixeira was arraigned and charged in Boston on April 14,[17][18] and will be detained until April 19.[19]

References

  1. ^ Bergengruen, Vera; Hennigan, W.J. (April 13, 2023). "The Strange Saga of Jack Teixeira Reveals New Security Challenges". Time. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  2. ^ Willis, Haley; Gibbons-Neff, Thomas; Toler, Aric; Triebert, Christiaan; Barnes, Julian; Browne, Malachy (April 13, 2023). "F.B.I. Arrests National Guardsman in Leak of Classified Documents". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  3. ^ Coffey, Denise (April 13, 2023). "MA Air National Guardsman from Dighton stationed on Cape Cod, arrested over military leaks". Cape Cod Times. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  4. ^ "É lusodescendente o líder do grupo online que partilhou documentos confidenciais dos EUA sobre a guerra: Jack Teixeira, novas informações" [The Leader of the Online Group That Shared Confidential US Documents About the War is of Portuguese Descent: Jack Teixeira, New Information]. CNNPortugal.iol.pt (in Portuguese). April 13, 2023. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  5. ^ a b c d Toler, Aric; Triebert, Christiaan; Willis, Haley; Browne, Malachy; Schwirtz, Michael; Mellen, Riley (April 13, 2023). "The Airman Who Wanted to Give Gamers a Real Taste of War". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Lamothe, Dan; Hill, Evan; Horton, Alex & Ryan, Missy (April 14, 2023) [April 13, 2023]. "He's From a Military Family—And Allegedly Leaked U.S. Secrets". WashingtonPost.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Wendling, Mike (April 14, 2023). "Jack Teixeira: National Guard Airman Arrested Over Leaked Pentagon Documents". BBC News. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Ellis, Blake; Glover, Scott; Winter, Jeff; Hicken, Melanie (April 13, 2023). "Teixeira was a loner and fascinated by war and weapons, former classmates say". CNN. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  9. ^ Harris, Shane; Oakford, Samuel; Barrett, Devlin; Stein, Perry (April 13, 2023). "Suspected leaker of top-secret Pentagon documents arrested". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  10. ^ "Leak of military secrets on Discord marks a new step for social media". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved April 14, 2023. Oxide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his privacy, said he banned a number of members more than a year ago because of their constant and "annoying" trolling, including racist vitriol and the relentless posting of a meme video known as the "thug shaker," showing a Black man in a gay porn film.
  11. ^ a b Perez, Evan; Herb, Jeremy; Bertrand, Natasha; Cohen, Zachary; Liptak, Kevin (April 13, 2023). "FBI arrests suspect in connection with intelligence leaks". CNN. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  12. ^ Tran, Ken; Mansfield, Erin; Carless, Will (April 13, 2023). "Who leaked the Pentagon documents? What we know about Jack Teixeira, the suspected DOD leaker". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  13. ^ Dress, Brad (April 13, 2023). "What we know about suspected Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira". The Hill. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  14. ^ Tucker, Eric; Copp, Tara; Balsamo, Michael (April 13, 2023). "Guardsman arrested in leak of classified military documents". Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  15. ^ Harris, Shane; Oakford, Samuel (April 12, 2023). "Discord member details how documents leaked from closed chat group". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  16. ^ Haefeli, Laura (April 13, 2023). "Homeland security expert questions Jack Teixeira's access to classified documents". CBS News. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  17. ^ Rabinowitz, Hannah (April 13, 2023). "First court appearance for Jack Teixeira will be tomorrow in Boston". CNN. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  18. ^ Rabinowitz, Hannah (April 14, 2023). "Suspect in classified documents leak has been charged". CNN. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  19. ^ Rabinowitz, Hannah (April 14, 2023). "Detention hearing for leaks suspect set for next week". CNN. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
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