Jack Teixeira, accused of leaking intelligence to the US and the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was fascinated by the military and war in highschool and joined the same intelligence unit where his stepfather served for greater than three many years – before the young man was charged with the biggest security breach national in history. decade.
Teixeira, 21, occasionally showed as much as classes at Dighton-Rehoboth High School in Massachusetts wearing camouflage and carrying a “dictionary-sized” book on guns and tanks, former classmates he told CNN.
“At the same time as a baby, he was determined to hitch some branch of the military,” said John Powell, who attended middle school and highschool with Teixeira.
Nonetheless, the intense fascination was repugnant to his classmates.
“Loads of people were afraid of him,” said Brooke Cleathero, who also attended middle school and highschool with the Air National Guardsman.
“He was quite a loner, and his fascination with war and guns made many individuals push him away.”
Powell described him as nice and calm, but additionally said that he did not have many friends growing up and was sometimes teased in school.
Others recalled that Teixeira exhibited disturbing behavior in school, including making allegedly racist remarks and once showing as much as class wearing an AR-15 T-shirt the day after the 2017 fatal Las Vegas shooting.
One other former classmate told CNN that while Teixeira’s behavior didn’t escalate to the point where she needed to be reported to the authorities, she said it made her feel “nervous”.
Here’s what we find out about Jack Teixeira and the leaked documents
Who’s Teixeira?
21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard enlisted in the 102nd Intelligence Wing based at Joint Base Cape Cod.
Why was he arrested?
The arrest got here after Teixeira was identified as an individual of interest in the case, which was opened last week when a few of the shared documents were discovered on Russian Telegram channels.
Reports indicate that Teixeira was a distinguished figure in the Discord group “Thug Shakers Central”, where the documents initially appeared.
What information is contained in the disclosed documents?
Secret Department of Defense documents contained key details about U.S. espionage efforts against Russia, in addition to details of Ukraine’s military planning.
How did the documents leak?
The classified pages were circulated on the small Discord channel Thug Shaker Central, affiliated with fans of YouTuber Oxide.
Learn more about Thug Shaker Central’s leaks and channel
Teixeira grew up in North Dighton, Massachusetts in a military family and joined the military after highschool.
reported the Recent York Times that he even missed his highschool graduation in the summer of 2020 to attend basic training in Texas.
On October 1, 2021, Teixeira entered energetic duty with the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts National Guard, the same unit where his stepfather, Senior Sgt. Thomas Dufault served for 34 years before retiring in 2019.
His half-brother Alex Dufault also worked at Joint Base Cape Cod, reports the Cape Cod Times.
Teixeira held the rank of First Class Airman, working as a cybertransport systems specialist accountable for military communications networks.
A low-level security guard was arrested at his mother’s home by heavily armed FBI agents on Thursday, accused of leaking tons of of sensitive documents about the war in Ukraine on a gaming platform.
Teixeira is predicted to be charged with the unauthorized removal of classified national defense information under the 1917 Espionage Act.