Washington (EFE)
The 21-year-old appeared this morning before the magistrate judge of the District Court of Massachusetts, David Hennessy, who read the charges against him, national media reported.
Who is Teixeira?
Teixeira was arrested by the FBI on Thursday, after outlets such as The Washington Post published extensive profiles on the leaker’s avatar on the social network Discord, where he allegedly posted the documents.
According to The New York Times, the young man was not motivated by his disagreement with the actions of the US government, as has been the case with previous leaks (WikiLeaks, the Pentagon Papers), and although they reveal sensitive information about the war in Ukraine, they do not it seems that Teixeira took part in the conflict.
Members of the Discord group where the suspect allegedly leaked the documents told the newspaper that the posts were “purely informational.”
However, the leaks show compromising details of the Ukrainian strategy, and also shed light on the spying of the United States on its own allies, such as South Korea or Israel.
The forum was dedicated to discussing video games and firearms, and racist “memes” were frequently shared on it, according to US media.
pentagon worker
Teixeria allegedly took home paper documents from the military base where he worked and photographed them. She later shared these photographs in the virtual group, in which between 20 and 30 people participate, some teenagers.
His mother, speaking to The New York Times, confirmed that the young man had been working the night shift at a Cape Cod base, and had recently changed his phone number.
In videos that The Washington Post has had access to, the boy is seen practicing shooting with a rifle while shouting racist and anti-Semitic insults.
When the FBI searched Teixeira’s house, they found several firearms.
The case has raised questions about how a young man who had been working for the Pentagon for a short time could have access to such sensitive material.
The Pentagon considers the leak of the documents a “deliberate criminal act,” but has not explained how a young man who has been in the Massachusetts National Guard for just over three years was able to access classified information that compromises America’s allies. and give details about the US and NATO plans to strengthen the anti-Russian offensive in Ukraine.
According to The New York Times, Teixeira began working for the Massachusetts Air National Guard in October 2021, in the 102nd Intelligence Wing.
For several months, the documents stayed in the Discord group, which requires an invitation to join, until recently one of its 17-year-old members posted several dozen on a public forum on the same social network.
From there they spread through Russian Telegram channels and began to attract media attention.