Leak of “top secret” documents from the Pentagon: a suspect is detained in the USA

A man suspected of being involved in the leak of confidential US documents was arrested on Thursday in the northeastern United States. Suspect Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guard officer, “was arrested without incident” and is due to face trial in NE Massachusetts soon, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a brief press conference.

The Pentagon documents, some of them related to the war in Ukraine, have been circulating on the social network Discord since early March, although sources say they were published as early as January. The leaks raised concerns at the Pentagon about a “very high risk” to US national security. An investigation was launched to try to understand by whom and how these documents were distributed. However, the US authorities have not publicly confirmed the authenticity of these documents, and it has not yet been verified by independent experts.

The arrest took place in Daytona, a small rural town south of Boston, Massachusetts. American television networks, including CNN, have repeatedly broadcast aerial photographs showing the arrest of a man by agents of the security forces. We could see a man with his hands on his head, wearing a gray T-shirt and red shorts, slowly backing towards the soldiers before being arrested and then escorted to a civilian vehicle.

The distribution of the documents, some of which appear to have been altered, revealed that Washington was spying not only on the Russians but also on its allies, including Ukraine and South Korea in particular, causing diplomatic tensions.

User named “OG”

The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the leak was the work of a young man working at a military base who shared his information on a private Discord group. The approximately twenty-member group was formed in 2020 based on their shared passion for firearms, military technology, and religion. Under the pseudonym “OG”, the suspect would have been publishing documents from his database for months.

“OG” asked other members of the group not to distribute documents, assuring that it was not going to be a whistleblower, according to the Washington Post, citing one of its sources. He was critical of the state, whose “abuse of power” he denounced, law enforcement and the intelligence community.

A Discord spokesperson said that user safety is the platform’s top priority, and that any content that violates its rules could result in the offender being banned, chat groups closed, and reported to authorities. The company also said it is cooperating with law enforcement regarding the leaks.

“There is a full investigation (…) and they are getting closer” to the result, US President Joe Biden said earlier during a visit to Ireland. “I am concerned that this happened,” he added.