Toxic gaming server leaks over a hundred classified military documents on the war in Ukraine

Only in America do we have suspected right-wing extremists not only with access to highly sensitive information regarding an ongoing war across the ocean, but with enough confidence in themselves to leak said information and risk numerous lives. Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsmen, leaked numerous classified documents on his Discord server titled “Thug Shaker Central,” and was later arrested on Apr. 11 outside his mother’s home. He was charged with alleged unauthorized removal and retention and transmission of classified national defense information.

If the title of the server is not enough to raise eyebrows, The Washington Post reports that the server was “United by their mutual love of guns, military gear and God.” Teixeira, whom the members solely referred to as “OG” before his identity was revealed, created the group as a space for an oasis at the beginning of the pandemic, with foreshadowing of what was to come always present. Not only did Teixeria send a video to the server where he “stands at a shooting range, wearing safety glasses and ear coverings and holding a large rifle. He yells a series of racial and antisemitic slurs into the camera, then fires several rounds at a target,” he also shared some of his conspiracy theories about the federal government that he had pledged himself to. In a particularly distressing one, Teixeira states that the Buffalo Tops mass shooting was staged by the federal government in order to demand more funding for police. 

While this could easily be perceived as a joke to an outsider looking in, members of the server told reporters that Teixeira was “like an uncle” and a father figure. Some of the members under the age of 18 were particularly vulnerable to “OG’s” rhetoric, but it was those of age that egged him on, stating that “It felt like I was on top of Mount Everest. I felt like I was above everyone else to some degree and that … I knew stuff that they didn’t.” 

Despite his attempt to harness a higher degree of confidence via religion and firearms, Teixeira and his gaming community remain the desolate, isolated nobodies they began the pandemic as. One member stated that after Teixeira went into hiding before his eventual arrest, the group “full-on sobbed and cried” at losing the self-obsessed 21-year-old who endangered the lives of thousands in Ukraine.

USA Today reports that Teixeira was a Cyber Transport Systems Journeymen, or mechanic, raising the inevitable question: why was he allowed access to such sensitive information? Many experts are “already suggesting Teixeira may have been influenced by right-wing extremism to take the actions he did.” The war in Ukraine is not a bipartisan issue, and thus acting against the Democratic executive branch damages its ability to find a resolution. Marjorie Taylor Greene, noted far-right Republican congresswoman, has already taken to Twitter to defend who she mistakenly names “Jake” Teixeira: “Jake Teixeira is white, male, Christian, and antiwar. That makes him an enemy to the Biden regime. And he told the truth about troops being on the ground in Ukraine and a lot more.” The idea that being white, male, or Christian someone protects one from criticism is haunting enough, but the fact that Greene defends someone charged with crimes paralleled with treason goes above and beyond.

The question of whether Teixeira will get away with the leak is still present, with lawmakers like Greene defending him. As seen in the Kyle Rittenhouse case in 2021, being white, male, and Christian does protect one to a certain extent from legal prosecution. If the charges continue, however, Teixeira is in for a rude awakening at the consequences of his actions. As stated in the U.S. Constitution, the highest level of consequence for treason is capital punishment.