…Researched and contributed by Solomon Thomas.
Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old National Guard member from Massachusetts, was arrested by the FBI on suspicion of leaking military intelligence.
Aerial footage captured Teixeira sitting on his porch reading a book as an armored vehicle moved up his driveway.
The FBI had been surveilling Teixeira for at least two days before his arrest but feared an armed confrontation with the gun enthusiast.
However, they were forced to act when New York Times reporters approached Teixeira’s home
Teixeira was charged with the unauthorized distribution of classified information, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years.
Concerns over an Armed Standoff
Teixeira’s social media accounts showed he had a fascination with the military and owned many weapons, including military-style assault weapons.
Officials feared an armed confrontation as they did not know his mental state and were up against a trained military person in a house with weapons.
The Washington Post reported that two members of a chat room described Teixeira as “fit, strong, armed, and trained, just about everything you can expect out of some sort of crazy movie.”
Teixeira was apprehended without incident and put into an unmarked SUV.
FBI Surveillance
The FBI had been watching Teixeira for several days before his arrest.
They were closing in on him and had been monitoring his father’s and mother’s residences.
Officials had hoped to arrest him at work at the military base where he was assigned.
The investigation was only five days old when he was arrested.
Leaked Military Intelligence
Highly classified materials detailing US military strategy in Ukraine were circulating on internet meme groups, and federal agencies and reporters were racing to identify the source.
News of the leaks came from the Washington Post, and The New York Times identified Teixeira’s name just 90 minutes before his arrest.
The leaks included information suggesting that Ukraine will soon run out of artillery and potentially put US intelligence sources around the world at risk.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that rules on access to classified documents could be tightened as a result of the leak.