Prosecutors say document leaks suspect has a history of making violent threats

Worcester, Massachusetts — The US Air National Guardsman accused of leaking classified military documents has a history of making violent threats, used his government computer to research mass shootings, and tried to destroy evidence of his crimes, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.

In a 48-page filing, the Justice Department said 21-year-old Jack Teixeira should be detained pending trial, saying his violent rhetoric coupled with his apparent efforts to destroy evidence "compound his risk of flight and dangerousness".

Prosecutors were expected to present their arguments in favor of his detention to a US magistrate judge in Worcester, Massachusetts, on Thursday afternoon.

Teixeira's lawyers have not commented on the case, and were expected to argue at Thursday's hearing that he should not be detained pretrial.

The filing, which also contained photos of the suspect's bedroom from the FBI's search of his home, said that in July 2022 he used his government computer to look up famous mass shootings using search terms such as "Uvalde", "Ruby Ridge" and "Las Vegas shooting".

During the search at his home, the FBI found a smashed tablet computer, a laptop and a gaming console inside a dumpster. In addition, prosecutors said they had unearthed evidence that Teixeira instructed other online users to "delete all messages".

Teixeira was charged earlier this month with one count of violating the Espionage Act related to the unlawful copying and transmitting of sensitive defense material, and a second charge related to the unlawful removal of defense material to an unauthorized location.

If convicted, prosecutors said he faces up to 25 years in prison.

Security breach

The leaked documents at the heart of the investigation are believed to be the most serious US security breach since more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables appeared on the WikiLeaks website in 2010. The Pentagon has called the leak a "deliberate, criminal act".

Prosecutors said in their detention memo that Teixeira in February 2022 began accessing hundreds of classified documents not relevant to his job, and started posting some of the classified information on social media around December 2022.

"The damage the defendant has already caused to the US national security is immense. The damage the defendant is still capable of causing is extraordinary," the memo says.

The classified documents provided a wide variety of highly classified information on allies and adversaries, with details ranging from Ukraine's air defenses to Israel's Mossad spy agency.

Prosecutors said they also found evidence that Teixeira admitted to others online that the information he was posting was classified.

In an exchange of chat room messages included in the filing, Teixeira was asked whether the information he was posting was classified.

In Wednesday's filing, prosecutors said: "There is no condition of release that can be set that will reasonably assure his future appearance at court proceedings or the safety of the community … He should be detained."

Agencies Via Xinhua