MA Guardsman Who Leaked Gov Docs Had History Of Violent Musings: DOJ

DIGHTON, MA —The 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National guardsman accused of leaking classified intelligence documents on the social platform Discord had previously been suspended from school for comments about violence and racism and “may still have access to a trove of classified information” that could put the country at risk, federal prosecutors said in a court filing released Wednesday.

Prosecutors are requesting that Jack Teixeira, who has been charged with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized willful retention and removal of classified documents, remain detained prior to his trial as he "poses a serious flight risk" and may still be keeping information for hostile nations that could "offer him safe harbor and attempt to facilitate his escape from the United States," according to the document.

"The information to which the defendant had access — and did access — far exceeds what has been publicly disclosed on the Internet to date," the document said.

The 18-page document also details Teixeira's apparent history of violent musings. Prosecutors said that Teixeira was suspended from his high school in 2018 when a classmate overheard him make remarks about weapons, including Molotov cocktails, guns at the school, and racial threats, which Teixeira later told officials were references to a video game.

Prosecutors also allege that Teixeira kept an arsenal of weapons in his bedroom at his primary residence with his mother and stepfather in North Dighton. He also made regular comments about violence and murder on social media, including musings about his wish to “kill a [expletive] ton of people” because it would be “culling the weak-minded" and make a minivan into an "assassination van," prosecutors said.

According to the filing, Teixeira's legal team requested that he be released to his secondary residence—his father's home—as he awaits trial, a proposition that the prosecution said could be perilous if Teixeira was able to circumvent restrictions of online activity.

"Even if the defendant’s devices are removed from his father’s home, his father certainly cannot be expected to spend every moment monitoring his son’s access to electronic devices," prosecutors said, concluding that "should he be released, the defendant poses a direct threat of causing additional exceptionally grave damage to the U.S. national security" and obstructing the judicial proceedings in his case.

On April 19, Teixeira waived his right to a preliminary hearing. That same day, a judge granted Teixeira's attorney's request to delay the detention hearing two weeks so the defense could have more time to prepare, documents show.

The New York Times was the first to identify Teixeira as the accused leaker and member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard earlier this month. The paper reported Teixeira is accused of leading a gaming chat group made up of around 20 or 30 young men and teenagers, according to interviews and documents obtained by The New York Times.

According to The Washington Post, Teixeira was arrested hours after people familiar with the case identified him as the primary focus of the investigation.

In the group—called Thug Shaker Central—Teixeira leaked the classified documents over the last few months, the Times reported. Other topics of discussion apparently included guns, racist memes, and video games.

The documents, which were found online last month, revealed details of the U.S. spying on Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, secret assessments of Ukraine’s combat power, and intelligence gathering on America’s allies.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.