Jack Douglas Teixeira (/teɪˈʃɛərə/ tay-SHAIR-ə; born December 2001) is an American airman in the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.
In April 2023, following an investigation into the removal and disclosure of hundreds of classified Pentagon documents, Teixeira was arrested by FBI agents and charged with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information in violation of the Espionage Act of 1917 and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material.
[8][9][10] 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.
[21] 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",[22][23] beginning at least by October 2022, both transcribed from documents he read and from printouts removed from his office on base.
[27][26][20] On 28 February 2023, a Thug Shaker Central member was alleged to have posted dozens of pictures of classified documents to another Discord server.
[28] 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.
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.
[46] On 4 March 2024, Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.