(Al Jazeera Media Network) Authorities in the United States have arrested a man in relation to the leak of classified U.S. military intelligence documents, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Thursday that Jack Teixeira was arrested in connection with a probe into “alleged unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defence information.”
“Teixeira is an employee of the United States Air Force National Guard,” Garland told reporters. “FBI agents took Teixeira into custody earlier this afternoon without incident.”
The leak of the classified Pentagon documents, which were shared online, continues to dominate headlines as U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has scrambled to get to the bottom of what happened.
The files are purported to show U.S. military assessments of the war in Ukraine, as well as issues related to some of the U.S.’s top allies, including Israel and South Korea.
On Thursday, The New York Times reported that several FBI agents armed with rifles pushed onto a Massachusetts property to make the arrest of Teixeira.
Video footage played on news channels showed officers escorting a young man wearing a grey t-shirt and bright red shorts into a waiting car in North Dighton, a small town about 30 km east of Providence, Rhode Island.
The Times said the 21-year-old is believed to be the leader of a small, gaming chat group on the social media app Discord, where the documents were leaked over the past few months.
Teixeira’s arrest is expected to raise questions about how one of the most high-profile U.S. intelligence leaks in years could have been caused by such a young, low-ranking servicemember.
