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Cape Cod airman's alleged involvement in 'abhorrent' leak case shocking, Air Force vet says

Jack Teixeira was stationed at Joint Base Cape Cod. This sign marks the Route 28 entrance in Bourne.
Jennette Barnes
/
CAI
Jack Teixeira was stationed at Joint Base Cape Cod. This sign marks the Route 28 entrance in Bourne.

The alleged involvement of a member of the U.S. military stationed on Cape Cod in a leak of classified documents has some local veterans reacting with shock and dismay.

Federal authorities arrested Airman Jack Teixeira yesterday at a home in North Dighton, a village in the town of Dighton.

The New York Times reported Teixeira is a member of the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. The 102nd operates from Otis Air National Guard Base on Joint Base Cape Cod.

Donald “Jerry” Ellis, an Air Force veteran of the Korean War who lives in Sagamore Village, said leaks put servicemembers’ safety at risk.

“They do not know what they put in jeopardy,” he said. “All of the people that we have serving around the world that are either in National Guard units, regular units, or that served — men, women — and they just now become a real serious target.”

Authorities have accused Teixeira of posting the documents in an online chat group, The New York Times reported.

“That's abhorrent,” Ellis said. “I can't believe that somebody would do that. … I'm just at a loss for words to see that this person is connected to Otis Air Force Base.”

Ellis is a co-founder of the Cape Cod Military Museum and a former member of the Bourne Select Board.

The FBI said agents took Teixeira, 21, into custody without incident for his alleged role in leaking classified U.S. government and military documents. The documents contain information about the war in Ukraine and other national security issues, according to the Associated Press.

Teixeira is expected to be arraigned today in federal court in Boston.

Jennette Barnes is a reporter and producer. Named a Master Reporter by the New England Society of News Editors, she brings more than 20 years of news experience to CAI.