Fri 14 Apr 2023:
A 21-year-old air national guardsman based in Massachusetts is believed to be behind the leak of hundreds of US defense documents, which exposed military secrets and strained relations between Washington and its key allies.
Jack Teixeira was arrested at his home in the town of North Dighton, Massachusetts, by FBI agents on Thursday. Helicopter news footage showed a young man in red shorts, being made to walk backwards towards a team of agents standing by an armoured vehicle dressed in camouflage and body armour, pointing their rifles at him.
Teixeira was the leader of an online chat group who uploaded hundreds of photographs of secret and top-secret documents, according to the New York Times. The online group called itself Thug Shaker Central, made up of 20 to 30 young men and teenagers who shared their love of guns, racist memes and video games.
Members of the group have told the investigative journalism organisation Bellingcat, the Washington Post and the New York Times that the documents were shared on Thug Shaker Central in an apparent attempt to impress the group, rather than to achieve any particular foreign policy outcome.
Garland’s statement on the arrest
Here is the US attorney general’s full statement to reporters on the arrest of Teixeira:
“Today, the Justice Department arrested Jack Douglas Teixeira in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorised removal, retention and transmission of classified national defence information. Teixeira is an employee of the United States Air Force National Guard.
“FBI agents took Teixeira into custody earlier this afternoon without incident. He will have an initial appearance at the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts. I want to thank the FBI, Justice Department prosecutors and our colleagues at the Department of Defense for their diligent work on this case.
“This investigation is ongoing. We will share more information at the appropriate time.”
Leaks were ‘deliberate criminal act’: Pentagon
The Pentagon has said it cannot comment directly on the US Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into the leaks, but said the release of classified material was a “deliberate criminal act”.
“We do have stringent guidelines in place for safeguarding classified and sensitive information. This was a deliberate criminal act, a violation of those guidelines,” Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder told reporters.
“We have rules in place. Each of us signs a nondisclosure agreement – anybody who has a security clearance. And so, all indications are that this was a criminal act, a willful violation of those,” he added.
LIVE: @PentagonPresSec @USAirForce Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder holds a news briefing at the Pentagon. https://t.co/McADAnTJvy
— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) April 13, 2023
Some of the leaked documents are dated as recently as March, and discussed Ukraine’s troop deployments, military vulnerabilities and efforts to arm its forces before a spring counteroffensive.
There is also evidence of the US spying on allies, and their reluctance to arm Ukraine, and material about Russian forces and decision-making in Moscow that could help the Kremlin better understand the strengths and weaknesses of US intelligence collection efforts in Russia.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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