Pentagon Leak Suspect Arrested After Joe Biden Declaration

The suspect in the leak of US classified documents was identified
Jack Douglas Teixeira is the leader of a Discord group dubbed "Thug Shaker Central"
A Discord member said the leaker works at an unnamed military base

FBI agents captured Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Douglas Teixeira at his residence in North Dighton, Massachusetts, concerning a trove of classified documents leaked online over the past few months.

Attorney General Merrick Garland stated that the 21-year-old Teixeira is under investigation for the alleged unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defense information.

Pentagon Leaked Documents' Suspect Arrested

According to an internal Department of Defense email reviewed by Fox News, Teixeira possessed the highest security clearance granted by the federal government for access to top-secret information when he joined the Air National Guard in September 2019.

The suspect's security clearance and access to classified government systems have been revoked. Teixeira was most recently stationed as a member of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base.

Teixeira was promoted to Airman 1st Class in July of last year. A source briefed on the investigation said that the FBI began monitoring Teixeira about the leaks before Thursday but were compelled to accelerate their plans to apprehend him after the New York Times identified him on Wednesday evening.

This New York Times article identified Teixeira as the leader of a Discord group dubbed "Thug Shaker Central" that consisted of approximately twenty to thirty young males. According to the report, Teixeira recently began sharing classified documents with the private group. Still, the disclosures garnered wider attention when another member posted them publicly.

A video of the arrest shows a young male, believed to be Teixeira, walking backward with his hands raised toward armed FBI officers before being handcuffed and placed in a car.

The FBI said that the arrest happened "without incident" and that agents continued their investigation at the residence. At least fifty and possibly more than one hundred classified documents were posted on the social media platform Discord, which is popular among gamers.

The documents contain a variety of intelligence assessments regarding the conflict in Ukraine, as well as confidential information about countries around the globe, including US allies. Per BBC, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense stated that the Pentagon is continuing to "understand the scope, scale, and impact of these leaks."

The Washington Post released an interview with a member of the discussion room where the documents first surfaced on Wednesday. He characterized the leaker as a young, charismatic firearms enthusiast who works at an unnamed military base and is in his early to mid-20s.

Jack Douglas Teixeira's Position in US Military

The individual was a Discord chat room administrator with approximately two dozen members who exchanged "memes, offensive jokes, and idle chitchat" and watched movies and prayed together.

The members included individuals from Russia and Ukraine and several other European, Asian, and South American nations, according to the report. Early in March, members began publishing the disclosures on other Discord servers, such as those devoted to the video game Minecraft and a Filipino YouTuber.

From there, they were posted on the extremist forum 4chan and Telegram messaging application, particularly on pro-Russia channels. In some instances, they were altered to enhance the number of Ukrainian casualties. The Air National Guard is the Air Force's reserve. Teixeira's unit was stationed at the Otis Air National Guard Base in western Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Teixeira's official title is cyber transport systems journeyman, and he holds the rank of Airman 1st Class, an entry-level position. Earlier, HNGN reported that while on a journey to Ireland, US Vice President Joe Biden stated that investigators were near to identifying the leaker.

Biden told reporters, "There's a full-blown investigation going on, as you know, with the intelligence community and the justice department, and they're getting close."