UPDATE: FBI arrests suspect in connection with leaked Pentagon intelligence documents

A 21-year-old from the Massachusetts Air National Guard has been arrested in connection with the leak of sensitive intelligence documents online.

UPDATE: Thursday, April 13 at 6:58pm

While Brig Gen Pat Ryder was holding a press conference from the Pentagon earlier this afternoon, Thursday, April 13, FBI agents were busy locating and arresting a 21-year-old in connection with the leaked Pentagon documents. This was confirmed by General Merrick Garland, the US attorney general.

At the time, he stated that the authorities were “carrying out a variety of steps”, to find and apprehend the person suspected of the leak. “We do have stringent guidelines in place for safeguarding classified and sensitive information. This was a deliberate criminal act, a violation of these guidelines. We will continue to do everything we can”, he continued.

Airman Jack Teixeira was reportedly detained in connection with the ongoing federal investigation into the alleged unauthorised removal, retention and transmission of classified national defence information, according to Sky News.

Thursday, April 13 at 6:58pm

According to the New York Times this afternoon, Thursday, April 13, a 21-year-old national guardsman has been identified as a potential suspect in the search for the person who leaked US intelligence documents online over the last few months.

He has been named by the news outlet as Airman Jack Teixeira who is currently serving in the Massachusetts Air National Guard on a base in Cape Cod. Investigators revealed that Teixeira is in charge of ‘Thug Shaker Central’, a private online group made up of mostly teenagers and young males.

Its 20 or 30 members reportedly use the group to discuss their shared love of guns, along with video games and racist online memes.

It was confirmed to the NYT by two US officials that investigators had spoken with Airman Teixeira in connection with the leaked documents which had also appeared in their private group. At this point, he has not been arrested or named as responsible for the leak.

Hundreds of official documents were uploaded onto their small online chat group some months ago, which sparked a federal investigation.

Four members of the Thug Shaker Central chat group have been interviewed by the NYT. During these talks, one of them admitted to knowing the person responsible for the leaks for at least three years. He referred to him as O.G.

The four members named O.G. as the undisputed boss of the online group while one of them claimed that as a result of his work, he had access to sensitive documents. They all refused to call the head of the group by his real name but he was eventually tracked down by The Times newspaper who followed a trail of digital evidence.

By cross-checking images that Teixeira posted on his social media, investigators from the news outlet were able to match details observed in images of his childhood home with images in the leaked documents. They also managed to link him with other members of the group through his online gaming profile and other records.

Teixeira was also traced via posts on the social media page of the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. In July 2022, the military unit posted congratulating him and other colleagues for their promotions to Airman First Class.

Whether such a young Air National Guardsman would be able to access such highly sensitive material has not been made clear. According to The Times, a US government source informed them that emails containing intelligence are often forwarded to other people.