Who is the suspect arrested in the US intelligence document leak?

Jack Teixeira was arrested by the FBI for leaking classified information. Photo: Reuters

Below is the information we have on the suspect.

Family background

The 21-year-old was arrested by a team of heavily armed FBI agents at his mother's home in North Dighton, Massachusetts on Thursday, and appeared before a federal judge in Boston on Friday.

Teixeira served in the Massachusetts Air National Guard. His stepfather, Thomas Dufault, retired as a sergeant in 2019 from the same unit where Teixeira served. Dufault served in the military for 34 years.

IT Specialist

Teixeira worked as an IT specialist and airman at Otis Air National Guard Base near Providence, Rhode Island. His unit, the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was responsible for providing intelligence support to multiple military units.

Teixeira joined the Air National Guard in 2019. The National Guard is made up of reservists who often take on civilian jobs and often respond to domestic emergencies.

According to an affidavit released Friday, Teixeira has had a security clearance since 2021, giving him broad access to high-level intelligence.

Discord

The affidavit says Teixeira began posting classified information on social media around December 2022. For reasons that are not yet fully clear, Teixeira shared sensitive material with a group of gun-loving teens on Discord, an instant messaging platform popular with gamers. The chat room was once called “Thug Shaker Central.”

Penalty

In a criminal complaint made public Friday, Teixeira is charged with copying and illegally possessing classified documents, each of which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, and hundreds of documents are alleged to have been shared.

US Army Private First Class Chelsea Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for sharing documents, videos and diplomatic cables that appeared on WikiLeaks in 2010, but was released in 2017.

Hoang Nam (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/jack-teixeira-nghi-pham-bi-bat-trong-vu-ro-ri-tai-lieu-tinh-bao-my-la-ai-post243773.html