Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira was arrested on Thursday after being implicated in the disclosure of dozens of sensitive US intelligence documents to an online community devoted to video games and guns. The breach in security- the biggest in the last 10 years, has raised inevitable questions on the US security system.
Law enforcement swamped his mother’s residence in North Dighton, Mass. about 20 miles east of Providence, RI, hours after multiple reports sketched out Teixeira’s key role in a Discord channel called “Thug Shaker Central,” where the files first popped up earlier this year.
The FBI arresting Teixeira promised a swift arraignment on Friday. Attorney General Merrick Garland said he was been held in connection to the retention of ‘unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defense data’.
As per officers, the leaked documents revealed information revealing the crises in Ukraine. including potential vulnerabilities in that country’s air defense capabilities and details of Kyiv’s military positions as well as events in Israel and South Korea, riveting international concerns.
According to Pentagon, Teixeira- a pretty junior officer was anointed as a Cyber Transport Systems Journeyman directed to keep the communication systems including cabling and hubs. He joined the Air National Guard in 2019, according to the service record with the Pentagon. His promotion to Airman 1st Class announced last July by the Air National Guard’s 102nd Intelligence Wing, is believed to be a major figure in the “Thug Shaker Central” Discord channel — which the media reported was populated by about two dozen hard-core fans of a YouTube content creator known as Oxide.
After its initial appearance on “Thug Shaker Central”, the info was then posted on a second Discord channel linked to YouTuber “wow_mao” on Feb. 28. The spread was quick and grabbed eyes when a member of the previous channel posted some of the documents to a bigger channel called “Minecraft Earth Map” on March 4.