United States: The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested a 21-year-old air national guardsman Mr. Jack Teixeira in Massachusetts, suspected of being responsible for the leak of US classified defence documents that laid bare military secrets and upset Washington’s relations with key allies.
Mr. Teixeira was arrested at his home in the town of North Dighton by FBI agents. According to the helicopter news footage, a young man with shorn dark hair, an olive green T-shirt, and red shorts was 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.
In Washington, the US Attorney General Mr. Merrick Garland, confirmed the arrest, stating that Mr. Teixeira was being held “in connection with an investigation into the alleged unauthorised removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defence information”.
According to the statements from Mr. Garland, Mr. Teixeira will be facing charges under the Espionage Act. Each charge under the act can carry up to a 10-year prison term, and prosecutors could treat each leaked document as a separate count in his indictment. The 21-year-old could be facing a very long jail sentence.
The armed national guardsman would make an initial appearance at the Massachusetts district court in Boston.
Airman first class Teixeira, who joined the guard in 2019, was in the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard under the title of “cyber transport systems journeyman”, responsible for keeping the internet working at air bases.
Mr. Teixeira is believed to have been the leader of an online chat group where hundreds of photographs of secret and top-secret documents were first uploaded, from late 2022 to March. 2023 The online group called itself Thug Shaker Central and was made up of 20 to 30 young men and teenagers brought together by an enthusiasm for guns, military gear, and video games.
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