Teixeira received his access in 2021, after what should have been a thorough examination of his history. The investigation missed a number of troubling details that would give any rational judge of character pause. The Massachusetts native was
suspended in 2018 after making racist threats, as well as threatening remarks about public shootings and making Molotov cocktails. The threat was serious enough that local police denied his requests in 2018 and 2019 for a firearm identification card (FID) that would allow him to purchase and own guns in the state. He was given the chance to reapply in 2020 after joining the Air National Guard and then amassed an arsenal that included handguns, rifles, shotguns, and a bazooka. He made multiple social media posts about conducting mass shootings, and how he wanted to create an “assassination van” and
“cull the weak-minded.”
Despite these details and local PD denial of his FID application, the Guard granted Teixeira Top-Secret access. He searched hundreds of keywords and
brought home original documents before he became nervous about being caught, and switched to taking photos. He shared the photos — and videos of him firing a rifle while shouting slurs — on his Discord server. He destroyed his electronic devices and asked his group to delete their messages before he deleted the chat server.
When viewed as a whole, the details paint a troubling picture of a young man whose fascination with weapons and violence led him to the Armed Forces where he was given Top-Secret access despite the warning signs in his recent history and who used that access to elevate himself in the eyes of the teenage and young adult gamers in his chat group. It’s a lot, and to anyone who has had a thorough background check or been interviewed as part of someone else’s review, it’s difficult to understand how the process failed so thoroughly when it came to Teixeira. Comments made by his group and high school classmates suggest Teixeira was a lonely guy desperate for his peers’ approval. CNN has details of the information shared, including details of our support of Ukraine in their defense against Russia. The documents were spread to several other Discord servers as well. Despite
comments from MTG that Teixeira is “white, male, Christian, and antiwar,” it’s obvious how unsuited he was for his role.