Crime · Fayetteville, NC
FBI Arrests Fort Bragg Contractor Over Alleged Classified Photo Leak
James Thomas Ashbacher, 37, of Spring Lake, NC, was indicted Tuesday and arrested by the FBI for allegedly photographing classified military operations at Fort Bragg's U.S. Army Special Operations Command facility and posting them to social media beginning around 2021, according to the Department of Justice. Prosecutors say Ashbacher held a Top Secret clearance with Sensitive Compartmented Information access through his contractor role, which lasted through March 2024. A search of his residence reportedly turned up a classified award write-up and a night vision goggle system previously reported missing from the installation. Ashbacher faces charges of unlawfully transmitting and retaining national defense information and theft of government property.