WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) 鈥� The Massachusetts Air National guardsman kept an arsenal of guns and said on social media that he would like to kill a 鈥渢on of people,鈥� prosecutors said in arguing Thursday that 21-year-old Jack Teixeira should remain in jail for his trial.
But the judge at Teixeira's detention hearing put off an immediate decision whether he should be kept in custody until his trial or released to home confinement or under other conditions. Teixeira was led away from the court in handcuffs, black rosary beads around his neck, pending that ruling.
The about why Teixeira had such a high security clearance and access to some of the nation's most classified secrets. They said he may still have material that hasn't been released, which could be of 鈥渢remendous value to hostile nation states that could offer him safe harbor and attempt to facilitate his escape from the United States.鈥�
In Teixeira's detention hearing, Magistrate Judge David Hennessy expressed skepticism of defense arguments that the government hasn't shown Teixeira ever intended leaked information to be widely disseminated.
鈥淪omebody under the age of 30 has no idea that when they put something on the internet that it could end up anywhere in this world?鈥� the judge asked. 鈥淪eriously?鈥�
Teixeira entered his hearing in Worcester in orange prison garb, smiling at his father in the front row. His handcuffs were removed before he sat down and put back on when he was taken out.
One possibility is that the judge could order Teixeira to be confined at his father鈥檚 home while awaiting trial, if not held in jail. Under questioning at the hearing, his father, Jack Michael Teixeira, said he was aware that if his son were to violate conditions of release or home confinement, he鈥檇 have to report him. The elder Teixeira said he owns firearms but no longer has any in his home.
"You have a young man before you who didn鈥檛 flee, has nowhere to flee,鈥� said Brendan Kelley, the defendant's lawyer. 鈥淗e will answer the charges, he will be judged by his fellow citizens鈥�
But Nadine Pellegrini, chief of national security division in the Massachusetts U.S. attorney鈥檚 office, told the judge the information prosecutors submitted to the court about the defendant's threatening words and behavior 鈥渋s not speculation, it is not hyperbole, nor is it the creation of a caricature. It is based on what we know to date ... directly based upon the words and actions of this defendant.鈥�
The prosecution's filing contains a review of what it says are Teixeira social media posts, stating in November that he would 鈥渒ill a (expletive) ton of people鈥� if he had his way, because it would be 鈥渃ulling the weak minded.鈥�
Late Wednesday, the Air Force announced it suspended the commander of the 102nd Intelligence Support Squadron where Teixeira worked and the administrative commander 鈥渙verseeing the support for the unit mobilized under federal orders,鈥� pending further investigation. It also temporarily removed each leader鈥檚 access to classified systems and information.
Court papers urging a federal judge to keep Teixeira in custody detailed a troubling history going back to high school, where he was suspended when a classmate overheard him discussing Molotov cocktails and other weapons as well as racial threats. More recently, prosecutors said, he used his government computer to research past mass shootings and standoffs with federal agents.
He remains a grave threat to national security and a flight risk, prosecutors wrote, and investigators are still trying to determine whether he kept any physical or digital copies of classified information, including files that haven鈥檛 already surfaced publicly.
鈥淭here simply is no condition or combination of conditions that can ensure the Defendant will not further disclose additional information still in his knowledge or possession,鈥� prosecutors wrote. 鈥淭he damage the Defendant has already caused to the U.S. national security is immense. The damage the Defendant is still capable of causing is extraordinary.鈥�
Teixeira has been in jail since his arrest earlier this month on charges stemming from the greatest known intelligence leak in years.
Teixeira with unauthorized retention and transmission of classified national defense information. He has not yet entered a plea.
His lawyers are urging the judge to release him from jail, arguing that appropriate conditions can be set even if the court finds him to be a flight risk 鈥� such as confinement at his father's home and location monitoring.
The defense said Teixeira no longer has access to any top-secret information and accused prosecutors of providing 鈥渓ittle more than speculation that a foreign adversary will seduce Mr. Teixeira and orchestrate his clandestine escape from the United States.鈥�
鈥淭he government鈥檚 allegations ... offer no support that Mr. Teixeira currently, or ever, intended any information purportedly to the private social media server to be widely disseminated,鈥� they wrote. 鈥淭hus, its argument that Mr. Teixeira will continue to release information or destroy evidence if not detained rings hollow.鈥�
Prosecutors wrote in their filing that he kept his gun locker within reach of his bed and in it were handguns, bolt-action rifles, shotguns, an AK-style high-capacity weapon, and a gas mask.
They said FBI special agents also found ammunition and tactical pouches on his dresser, what appeared to be a silencer-style accessory in his desk drawer and a military-style helmet in the dumpster with a mounting bracket such as that used for a camera.
He is accused of distributing highly classified documents about top national security issues in a chat room on Discord, a social media platform that started as a hangout for gamers. The leak stunned military officials, sparked an international uproar and raised fresh questions about America鈥檚 ability to safeguard its secrets.
The leaked documents appear to detail U.S. and NATO aid to Ukraine and U.S. intelligence assessments regarding U.S. allies that could strain ties with those nations. Some show real-time details from February and March of Ukraine鈥檚 and Russia鈥檚 battlefield positions and precise numbers of battlefield gear lost and newly flowing into Ukraine from its allies.
Prosecutors wrote that Teixeira, who owned multiple guns, repeatedly had 鈥渄etailed and troubling discussions about violence and murder鈥� on the platform where authorities say he shared the documents. In February, he told another person that he was tempted to make a minivan into an 鈥渁ssassination van," prosecutors wrote.
The Justice Department's filing outlines a pattern of troubling behavior that officials say began well before he entered the military and continued in recent months, even as his position afforded him access to government secrets.
In 2018, prosecutors allege, Teixeira was suspended after a classmate 鈥渙verheard him make remarks about weapons, including Molotov cocktails, guns at the school, and racial threats." His initial application for a firearms identification card that same year was denied due to police department concerns over those remarks.
He applied again over the next two years, and cited in his 2020 application after joining the Guard 鈥渉is position of trust in the United States government as a reason he could be trusted to possess a firearm,鈥� prosecutors wrote.
The Justice Department said that it has also learned through its investigation that Teixeira in July used his government computer to look up a series of U.S. mass shootings and government standoffs, including the terms 鈥淩uby Ridge,鈥� 鈥淟as Vegas shooting,鈥� 鈥淢andalay Bay shooting,鈥� and 鈥淏uffalo tops shooting鈥� 鈥� an apparent reference to the 2022 .
The searches of mass shootings on a government computer should have triggered the computer to generate an immediate referral to security, which could have then led to a more in-depth review of Teixeira鈥檚 file, according to Dan Meyer, a lawyer who specializes in military, federal employment and security clearance issues. The Air Force鈥檚 investigation will probably discover whether a referral was generated 鈥� and whether security officers did anything with the information.
Teixeira鈥檚 lawyers noted that he has no criminal history and would have no access to guns if he was released. The incident at his high school was 鈥渢horoughly investigated鈥� and he was allowed to come back after a few days and a professional psychological evaluation, they wrote. That investigation was 鈥渇ully known and vetted 鈥� by the Air National Guard before he enlisted and when he obtained his top secret security clearance, they said.
Months later, after news outlets began reporting on the documents leak, Teixeira took steps to destroy evidence after news outlets began reporting on the documents leak. Authorities who searched a dumpster at his home found a smashed laptop, tablet and Xbox gaming console, they said.
Authorities have not alleged a motive. Members of the Discord group have described Teixeira as someone looking to show off, rather than being motivated by a desire to inform the public about U.S. military operations or to influence American policy.
Billing records the FBI obtained from Discord were among the things that led authorities to Teixeira, who enlisted in the Air National Guard in September 2019. A Discord user told the FBI that a username linked to Teixeira began posting what appeared to be classified information roughly in December.
Teixeira was detected on April 6 鈥� the day The New York Times first published a story about the breach of documents 鈥� searching for the word 鈥渓eak鈥� in a classified system, according to court papers. The FBI says that was reason to believe Teixeira was trying to find information about the investigation into who was responsible for the leaks.
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Tucker and Copp reported from Washington.
Alanna Durkin Richer, Eric Tucker And Tara Copp, The Associated Press
