The FBI arrested Jack Teixeira, who is the alleged leader of a discord group called Thug Shaker Central on Thursday, following the Pentagon leaked documents
The 21-year-old is currently a member of the intelligence wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.
What is the Thug Shaker Central Discord group after Jack Teixeira leaks Pentagon documents on it
Sourcing updates:
Lucca apparently got these leaked files from another poster on a Discord server called "Thug Shaker Central" (not joking). He then reposted them on the WowMao server. The leaked files went back at least to January of this year.— Aric Toler (@AricToler) April 7, 2023
The FBI has arrested classified document leaker Jack Teixeira, a 21-year old Massachusetts US Army Air National Guardsman who shared the materials on Discord. pic.twitter.com/vqdETaJSWs
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) April 13, 2023
Following the arrest, Teixeira will make an appearance at the Massachusetts district court for his hearing.
Jack Teixeira arrested
A spokeswoman for the FBI stated that they took Teixeira into custody without ‘incident at a residence in North Dighton, Massachusetts’.
She further added that:
The F.B.I. is continuing to conduct authorized law enforcement activity at the residence. Since late last week the F.B.I. has aggressively pursued investigative leads and today’s arrest exemplifies our continued commitment to identifying, pursuing, and holding accountable those who betray our country’s trust and put our national security at risk”.
Merrick Garland, the US attorney general also confirmed the arrest. He stated that the 21-year-old was being hel “in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defence information”.
Thug Shaker Central and leaked documents
Thug Shaker Central is an online Discord group with around 10 to 20 young members reportedly formed in 2020. Jack Teixeira is reportedly believed to be the leader of the group. The group reportedly talks about various topics like guns, video games, and racist memes.
Just recently, one of the members posted some documents on a public forum gaining much attention. The members of Thug Shaker Central revealed that the documents they discussed were ‘meant to be purely informative’. However, the documents reportedly gained more attention after one of the members posted them on a public forum.
The member added that the secret documents were never meant to leave the group. He also revealed that the person who shared them is not a whistle-blower.
The Pentagon documents that the member released showed maps of Ukrainian air defenses and a review of South Korea’s secret plans to deliver ammunition to the war-ridden country. Moreover, the documents also appeared to be pretty recent.