Jack Teixeira is a communications and IT specialist primarily based at Otis Air Nationwide Guard Base in Cape Cod.
New York, United States:
Described as a patriot by pals and coming from a household boasting many years of navy service, Jack Teixeira appears an unlikely set off for the most important US espionage scandal in many years.
However the low-ranking nationwide guardsman who possessed prime secret safety clearance at a younger age is accused of being simply that, and faces years in jail if convicted of leaking dozens of categorized paperwork.
The portrait painted within the US media by individuals who know Teixeira is extra one in every of a naive younger man searching for to impress pals than a crusading whistleblower intent on blowing open American secrets and techniques.
The 21-year-old from the small city of Dighton in southern Massachusetts enlisted with the US Air Drive Nationwide Guard in September 2019.
In accordance with court docket paperwork citing authorities data, Teixeira reached the rank of airman top quality — the third-lowest for enlisted air pressure personnel — in Could 2022.
He’s a communications and IT specialist primarily based at Otis Air Nationwide Guard Base in Cape Cod, round 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of Boston.
As of February this 12 months, Teixeira’s title was cyber protection operations journeyman, an FBI agent mentioned in a court docket affidavit launched Friday.
Particular Agent Patrick Lueckenhoff added that, “As required for this place, Teixeira holds a prime secret safety clearance, which was granted in 2021.”
Along with that clearance, Teixeira additionally maintained “delicate compartmented entry (SCI) to different extremely categorized packages,” since 2021, Lueckenhoff added.
SCI is info that’s additional restricted. To obtain entry, Teixeira would needed to have agreed to “correctly shield” the data by not disclosing it to folks with out privileged entry.
He would even have been required to agree to not take away it from “licensed storage services” or maintain it in “unauthorized places,” the affidavit added.
The felony criticism alleges that Teixeira started posting categorized info in a chat group on the web platform Discord in and round December final 12 months.
The group’s goal was “to debate geopolitical affairs and present and historic wars.”
Teixeira is accused of first posting paragraphs of textual content from paperwork earlier than occurring to submit pictures of the paperwork themselves.
‘Loner’
The federal government says laptop logs present that Teixeira accessed a doc about troop actions within the Russia-Ukraine struggle a day earlier than it was reposted on-line.
One pal instructed the paper that Teixeira had not wished to undermine US nationwide safety however hoped to coach youthful members of the web group.
“He beloved America however merely did not really feel assured in its future,” the Publish quoted the individual as saying.
Different members of the group mentioned Teixeira had shared racist and anti-Semitic jokes.
Teixeira comes from a household with many years of navy service, in keeping with the Washington Publish.
His stepfather spent 34 years in the identical unit as his son, whereas Teixeira’s mom labored for non-profit organizations that assist veterans, the newspaper mentioned.
Buddies instructed the Publish that Teixeira was patriotic, a religious Catholic and a libertarian. They added that he had an curiosity in weapons.
Former classmates instructed CNN that he would generally put on camouflage to high school.
“He was extra of a loner, and having a fascination with struggle and weapons made him off-putting to lots of people,” mentioned one.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
