Final week, a ton of army paperwork leaked onto fashionable social media platforms. It originated from a smaller Discord server, and was ultimately reposted in a Minecraft neighborhood. New particulars simply got here out concerning the authentic leaker and he’s not precisely a swell man.

The New York Instances reported that the leaker was a member of the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air Nationwide Guard. Jack Teixeira, who was identified by his on-line nickname “OG,” was the chief of “Thug Shaker Central,” a Discord server the place members would share racist jokes and memes. In keeping with an interview with The Washington Put up, its members initially met as followers of Oxide, a YouTuber who streams about weapons and physique armor. The small group of followers ultimately migrated to the Discord server, which grew to become a refuge for them through the pandemic lockdowns.

Teixeira reportedly instructed the opposite Thug Shaker Central members that he labored on a army base, and he repeatedly shared labeled intelligence with the group. He hand-typed his notes concerning the labeled paperwork, since he spent a part of his time in a compound that prohibited digital gadgets. Teixeira gained recognition for his “prophetic” capacity to “predict” main occasions, and members of the racist Discord server admired him.

“He’s match. He’s sturdy. He’s armed. He’s skilled. Nearly every part you may anticipate out of some form of loopy film,” a member instructed the Put up. Apparently, a video of Teixeira taking pictures weapons at a spread whereas shouting racist and anti-semitic slurs wasn’t a dealbreaker for them.

Nonetheless, the group’s dynamics weren’t all the time so flattering for Teixeira. Members initially ignored his labeled transcriptions. He received “upset” when folks had been extra all in favour of YouTube gun movies, and began posting precise images of the unique paperwork (presumably for clout). He posted the potential trajectories of North Korean nuclear missiles aimed toward the US, satellite tv for pc pictures exhibiting the injury brought on by Russian missile strikes on Ukraine, and images of February’s headline-making Chinese language spy balloon. Whereas most members knew that the paperwork shouldn’t be shared, one teenager leaked them to a different Discord server created for followers of comedy YouTuber wow_mao. The pictures ultimately unfold from the wow_mao server to the server referred to as “Minecraft Earth Map.”

Right this moment Teixeira was arrested by the FBI for “alleged unauthorized elimination, retention and transmission of labeled nationwide protection data.” The Division of Justice instructed reporters that it could not be taking additional questions.

Regardless of the overt racism obvious within the “Thug Shaker Central” Discord, an nameless member instructed the Put up that that neighborhood was not “a fascist recruiting server.”

Replace 4/13/2023 3:39 p.m. ET: The article has been up to date with new story particulars.