US Air Force intelligence analyst 'shared classified intelligence on Discord with anti-government Boogaloo group members'

A US Air Force intelligence analyst allegedly shared a trove of classified documents on the chat platform Discord among followers of the anti-government 'Boogaloo' movement. 

According to an FBI affidavit unsealed this week, analyst Jason Gray, 28, shared information that he 'likely obtained' through his access to the National Security Agency (NSA) while stationed at a base in Alaska. 

The affidavit accompanied a search warrant from November 2022 that allowed investigators to go into his Discord account, which was linked to the Boogaloo movement that works to move the US towards a second civil war. 

Gray's alleged treasonous activity came just months before the arrest of fellow Air Force officer Jack Teixeira, 21, who pleaded guilty this month to leaking classified documents on Discord and is set for a 16-year prison sentence.

Jason Gray, 28, is accused of sharing a trove of classified documents on Discord while stationed at an NSA facility at the Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson base (pictured) in Anchorage, Alaska 

The Air Force analyst was said to be a proponent of the anti-government 'Boogaloo' movement. Pictured: A Boogaloo protestor demonstrates after Joe Biden was elected president in January 2021 

The loosely organized Boogaloo movement is well known for causing violent uprisings intended to cause societal collapse, notably sparking up around the time of the January 6 riots. 

Gray had been assigned to an NSA facility at the Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson base in Anchorage, Alaska, offering him access to classified documents.

He shared the information to more than half a dozen other Boogaloo adherents on Discord, some of whom officials have been unable to identify, according to the affidavit. 

While executing the search warrant, investigators also found over 600 pictures and videos on his devices of the sexual abuse of children as young as one, reports the Daily Beast. 

He is currently awaiting to begin a five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the distribution of child pornography. 

That guilty plea came as part of an agreement with prosecutors not to charge Gray over the classified documents leaking, according to court filings. 

His actions come as officials say they are becoming more and more aware of the Boogaloo movement's growth in recent years. 

A member of the Boogaloo movement displays his clip of love rounds as he and others demonstrate outside the statehouse in Concord, New Hampshire, on 17 January, 2021

 'Dozens of Americans have been arrested in the last few years trying to advance the Boogaloo ideology through violence,' Seamus Hughes, a senior researcher at the University of Nebraska’s National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center, told The Daily Beast. 

'Adherents long for a second civil war and to sow chaos in America. A military member should be nowhere near that ideology, let alone furthering it by running one of its social media accounts.'

Following the leak, a spokesman for Discord said in a statement to the Washington Post that the company 'cooperated with the law enforcement investigation once notified, including by producing data that was lawfully requested.' 

'The sharing of classified documents poses a significant, complex challenge for Discord as it does for any online platform,' the statement continued.  

'And currently, there is no structured process for the government to communicate their determinations to online platforms.' 

Gray's alleged treasonous activity came just months before the arrest of fellow Air Force officer Jack Teixeira, 21, (pictured) who pleaded guilty this month to leaking classified documents on Discord and is set for a prison sentence up to 16 years

Gray's search warrant in November 2022 came months before the high-profile arrest of fellow-Air Force officer Jack Teixeira, then-21. 

This month, he leaded guilty to leaking highly classified military documents about Russia's war in Ukraine and other national security secrets on Discord.

Teixeira admitted all six counts relating to willful retention and transmission of national defense information in the most consequential security leak in years - and accepted a 16-year jail term as part of a plea deal Monday.

In return, Boston prosecutors agreed not to charge him with further counts under the Espionage Act.

The leak led the Pentagon to tighten controls to safeguard classified information, and the Air Force disciplined 15 personnel as its inspector general found last year that multiple officials intentionally failed to take required action about Teixeira's suspicious behavior.