Jack Teixeira
Early life
Teixeira was born in December 2001. Teixeira's stepfather is a retired master sergeant in the United States Air Force. His stepfather and stepbrother worked at Joint Base Cape Cod. His mother worked for a non-profit organization that supported military veterans.
Teixeira is of Portuguese descent; his grandfather immigrated to the United States from São Miguel Island, in the Azores.
He graduated from Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School in 2020, but missed his graduation ceremony to attend United States Air Force Basic Military Training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
Career
Upon graduating from high school, Teixeira joined the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard as a Cyber Transport Systems journeyman in September 2019. Teixeira was stationed at Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod. In July 2022, Teixeira was promoted to airman first class. Many U.S. military personnel in technology or intelligence positions, even those of relatively low rank, are entrusted with access to classified information. As part of his job, Teixeira held a Top Secret security clearance. He was also the recipient of an Air Force Achievement Medal.
Alleged publication of leaked material
In early April 2023, Teixeira was alleged by media to have regularly shared classified information in a server on the online chat service Discord called "Thug Shaker Central", beginning at least by October 2022, both transcribed from documents he read and from printouts removed from his office on base. Chatroom members reportedly talked about and played video games together; according to The New York Times, Teixeira was identified as the chatroom administrator. Reports of the server's size vary, between about two dozen and about fifty members.
On 28 February 2023, a Thug Shaker Central member was alleged to have posted dozens of pictures of classified documents to another Discord server. From there, someone else alleges they posted images found on that server to a Discord server associated with the Minecraft video game. After classified documents began appearing on Russian-language Telegram channels, The New York Times first reported on the leak. On 21 April, The New York Times reported that a Discord account with similar characteristics as the online profile of Teixeira had shared written summaries of classified information and likely shared photographs of documents to a Discord server with about 600 members from about February 2022 until about March 2023.
Arrest and prosecution
On the morning of 13 April 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Teixeira at his home in Dighton, where Teixeira lived with his mother and stepfather. Next to his bed, investigators found Teixeira's stockpile of weapons, including handguns, shotguns, bolt-action rifles, an AK-style rifle with high-capacity magazine, a gas mask, and other weapons.
The next day, Teixeira made his first appearance at the U.S. District Court in Boston before a U.S. magistrate judge, and the formal charging document was unsealed. He was charged with two offenses: (1) violating the Espionage Act of 1917 by retaining and transmitting national defense information without authorization and (2) unauthorized removal and retention of classified information. The first charge has a maximum prison sentence of ten years; the second charge, a maximum of five years. A supporting affidavit from a FBI Counterintelligence Division special agent was attached to the criminal complaint.
Teixeira is represented by counsel from the federal public defender's office, who requested and received postponement of Teixeira's detention hearing to allow more time to review the case. In advance of a 27 April detention hearing, the prosecution and defense filed memos with the court. The prosecution advocated ongoing detention without bond, arguing that Teixeira posed a "serious flight risk"; the prosecution's memo alleged Teixeira had attempted to obstruct the federal investigation by destroying evidence; might still possess secret information of "tremendous value to hostile nation states"; and had a record of making racist and violent comments, including in late 2022 and early 2023. To support detention without bond, prosecutors also raised an incident from while Teixeira was a high school sophomore in 2018 that resulted in his suspension from school and prevented him from obtaining a gun license until he joined the National Guard. Prosecutors also alleged that Teixeira's supervisors had in September and October 2022 and January 2023 caught him taking notes on classified material or viewing material not needed for his job, and admonished him to "cease and desist". At a 19 May hearing, a judge ruled Teixeira would be held without bail until trial. On 15 June, Teixeira was indicted, and he pleaded not guilty in court on 21 June.
On 4 March 2024, Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. He will be sentenced on 27 September 2024; Teixeira faces between 11 years and 16 years and 8 months in prison if the plea is accepted by the court.