Gun geek, busybody, not a real whistleblower

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It was a small group, 20 to 30 people at most, chatting on the Thug Shaker Central Discord server about war games, guns, and sometimes racist memes. Nothing unusual in itself, there are dozens of groups like this on the net. But then Jack Teixeira, 21, a member of the US military and the group’s administrator, began showing the young men and teenagers secret documents about the war in Ukraine.

He is said to have been sharing classified US information on the server since October. Then, in March, came the climax: hundreds of pages of documents were uploaded, including detailed battlefield maps from Ukraine and surveillance logs. They weren’t discovered until just before Easter when they started circulating on Telegram.

The FBI arrested the young man on Thursday. “Guys, it was good — I love you all,” Teixeira said in an appeal to his friends, as one group member told the New York Times. “I never wanted it to come to this. I prayed to God that this would never happen. And I prayed and prayed and prayed. Only God can decide what happens from now on.”

Why did Teixeira do all this? According to the American newspaper, he wanted to impress his young colleagues. He now faces several years in prison for illegally disclosing secret government documents. In addition, as an active soldier, he must take into account additional punishments from the military judiciary. He is currently believed to face 10 years in prison for each charge.

Whistleblowers want to end injustice

Even though the young soldier is responsible for the biggest data breach of the past ten years, he is by no means a classic whistleblower. The Encyclopedia Britannica defines the term as follows: “An individual who discloses, without authorization, private or secret information about an organization, usually in connection with misconduct or misconduct. Whistleblowers typically state that their actions are motivated by their commitment to the public good.”

Edward Snowden (39) and Chelsea Manning (35) are the youngest examples of ‘real’ whistleblowers. Snowden’s revelations in the summer of 2013 provided insight into the magnitude of global surveillance and espionage by intelligence agencies – especially those of the United States. Teixeira also published documents about how the US spied on its allies.

Like Teixeira, Manning was a member of the United States Armed Forces. She was arrested in 2010 on suspicion of leaking documents to the Wikileaks site. After a partial confession, she was sentenced to 35 years in prison. A penalty that could also come for Teixeira. Manning was partially pardoned in 2017.

Teixeira did not want to expose any grievances

The decisive difference between Teixeira and the examples mentioned: Teixeira did not want to make any alleged grievances public. He had no intention of doing the world community any favors.

The busybody – as his friends describe him – did not even want the documents to leave the small circle of his internet acquaintances. He just wanted to prove to his comrades that he was a worthy member of their group – and deserved to be the leader. And almost nonchalantly turned the world upside down.

Source: Blick