{"id":25078,"date":"2023-04-13T21:30:57","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T01:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=25078"},"modified":"2023-04-13T21:30:57","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T01:30:57","slug":"jack-teixeira-national-guard-airman-arrested-over-leaked-pentagon-documents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2023\/04\/13\/jack-teixeira-national-guard-airman-arrested-over-leaked-pentagon-documents\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Teixeira: National Guard airman arrested over leaked Pentagon documents"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A 21-year-old US Air Force National Guard member has been arrested over the leak of classified documents.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Jack Teixeira is reported to be the leader of an online gaming chat group where the files were leaked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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US officials said he will be charged under the Espionage Act, which makes it a crime to transmit classified defence information.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The documents revealed sensitive intelligence about the war in Ukraine and other countries around the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Aerial footage showed officers making an arrest at Mr Teixeira’s family home on Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It happened in Dighton, a town of 8,000 people about an hour to the south of Boston.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Footage of the arrest shows a young man, believed to be Mr Teixeira, walking backward towards armed FBI officers with his hands raised before he is handcuffed and led to a vehicle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He is expected to make his first court appearance in Boston on Friday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Teixeira is a member of the intelligence wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, based at Otis Air National Guard Base in western Cape Cod.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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According to his service record, obtained by CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, Mr Teixeira joined the force in 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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His official title is cyber transport systems journeyman and he holds the rank of Airman 1st Class – a relatively junior position.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In a brief statement on Thursday, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said the suspect was taken into custody “without incident”.<\/p>\n

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Mr Garland provided no further details on the investigation or the motive for the leaks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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At a separate news conference earlier in the day, defence department spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said that the leak was a “deliberate criminal act”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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When asked how such a young airman had access to classified defence documents, Gen Ryder said that across the US military, personnel are entrusted “with a lot of responsibility at a very early age”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Think about a young combat platoon sergeant, and the responsibility and trust that we put into those individuals to lead troops into combat,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What was in the leaks?<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Starting several months ago, at least 50 but perhaps more than 100 classified documents were posted on Discord – a social media platform popular with gamers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The documents – which BBC News is examining – contain a range of intelligence assessments about the war in Ukraine, but also sensitive intelligence about countries around the world, including US allies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A defence department spokesman said the Pentagon is continuing to work to “understand the scope, scale and impact of these leaks”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In a statement, Republican congressman Mike Turner – the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee – vowed to “examine why this happened, why it went unnoticed for weeks, and how to prevent future leaks”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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More Pentagon leaks coverage:<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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