For the FBI, the matter is clear: 21-year-old Jack Teixeira is behind one of the biggest US intelligence scandals. He is accused of stealing dozens of secret documents and distributing them on the Internet. After authorities and the media got wind of it, they began searching for the leak. And finally found what they were looking for in Massachusetts. In a spectacular action, Teixeira was arrested by FBI special units in his childhood home, which was surrounded by forests. He was brought before a judge for the first time in Boston yesterday.

Teixeira is charged with unauthorized removal, storage and transmission of classified and national defense information. If convicted, he could face several years behind bars. According to CNN, the responsible judge ordered that Teixeira remain in custody for the time being. Another hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. On Friday, numerous journalists were waiting in front of the building, including the parents of the alleged data thief.

The National Guard worked at a military base in Massachusetts. According to the court documents, through his role as an IT specialist, he had official clearance to view top-secret government documents, even with a lower rank. In the chat group in which he shared the secret information, he told about his actions. Accordingly, he spent parts of the day in a secure facility where cell phones and other electronic devices that can be used to take photos or videos were prohibited. Therefore, he initially copied the documents.

But over time, Teixeira becomes careless. Copying is becoming too tiring for him. He begins uploading photos of documents he apparently took home. Arguably a mistake: During their research, media discovered that details of the interior of Teixeira’s childhood home, published in family photos on social media, matched details in the margins of some photos of the secret documents that were released.

The 21-year-old discontinues his posts for several months. A member of the Washington Post group said his intention was “to brag to his friends,” but also to let them know.

In mid-March, Teixeira suddenly stopped uploading documents. According to the research, the reason was that someone from the district posted documents in another group at the end of February and thus broke the internally agreed confidentiality.

Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said that in the US military, employees are often given “a lot of responsibility from a young age.” US President Joe Biden instructed the military and secret services to take additional measures to protect sensitive information. The dissemination of information about national defense is to be further restricted.

Ex-intelligence coordinator James Clapper told CNN that after every data leak, who gets access to classified information is first restricted. “And over time, those procedures prove cumbersome and inefficient, and then they’re relaxed.”