Who is Jack Teixeira, the 'young, charismatic' Air National guardsman arrested in US documents leak case?

US officials probing the leak of secret military documents have said that a suspect has been identified in the matter. The officials said that Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, is the one who leaked the secret documents. The officials, who refused to be named since the investigation is ongoing, said that they had been tracking Teixeira for some time. He was arrested on Thursday in Massachusetts.

Jack Teixeira allegedly leaked the documents in a chatroom for gamers, Thug Shaker Central, on Discord, an instant messaging platform. Washington Post had earlier reported that the man who leaked these documents was known as OG in the group. Teixeira is reportedly the same person who posted documents containing strange acronyms and jargon which not many paid attention to, a member of the group told the Washington Post. He described Teixeira asa "young, charismatic gun enthusiast".

Teixeira’s “online gaming profile” and family photos posted to social media acted as evidence in the case. NYT reported that the photos and profile “also match details on the margins of some of the photographs of the leaked secret documents.”

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Also Read |US secret documents were leaked by a '20-something' man who worked at a 'military base'

He reportedly used to workduring the overnight shiftson Cape Cod. NYT reported that his mother“confirmed that her son was a member of the Air National Guard and said he had recently been working overnight shifts at a base on Cape Cod".

The Airman's house was being searched for more information by federal authorities, an official said.

Jack Teixeira said in the chat group that he was able to access the documents because he worked on a “military base", the name of which wasn't revealed earlier.

The person who spoke to Washington Post had described him as "fit, strong, armed."

"He’s trained. Just about everything you can expect out of some sort of crazy movie,” the member told Washington Post.

The chat group member was in awe of OG, or Jack Teixeira, and said that he could forecast major events, something “only someone with this kind of a high clearance” would know.

The chat room was a place for mostly fun and games, but OG told them about secretive government operations and world affairs. He wanted others to be concerned about world affairs and thought sharing insider information would protect them from the troubled world, the chatroom member said.

He said that OG was smart and none of the leaks was "accidental". Jack Teixeira's documents covered a range of top-secret reports, such as about the movements of high-ranking political leaders and tactical updates on military forces, the member said. He says anything you could think of was in those documents.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.