Photo: Massachusetts Air National Guard
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A Massachusetts Air National Guard member was ordered detained at Boston federal court on Friday, accused of spreading classified military documents in an online chat group.
The FBI arrested 21-year-old Jack Teixeira at a home in North Dighton yesterday. He is serving as an Airman with the Massachusetts Air National Guard 102nd Intelligence Wing, out of Otis Air National Guard Base in Sandwich.
A federal criminal complaint accuses the man of sharing documents marked "Top Secret" with a social media group over the course of months. The complaint says Teixeira got top secret clearance through his work for the Air National Guard beginning in 2021.
In the complaint, an FBI agent testified that they used social media billing records and an informant to find Teixiera.
The documents were shared on a Discord server called "Thug Shaker Central," according to AP News. A source tells the agency that Teixeira is accused of first typing up the information on Discord, then progressively taking photos of the documents himself and sharing those.
The leaks have caused concern from U.S. allies on the world stage, including Ukraine.
Teixeira could face up to ten years in prison on one espionage charge, and five on another. He'll be in court for a formal detainment hearing next Wednesday.
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