National

Washington [US], April 28: According to Reuters, suspect Jack Douglas Teixeira (21 years old), an Air National Guard soldier suspected of leaking classified Pentagon documents, appeared in federal court on April 27.
At the trial, the parties debated whether or not Teixeira should be released on bail pending a criminal trial. Judge David Hennessy declined to rule on the matter. The hearing lasted more than an hour at the District Court in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Teixeira was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on April 13 at his home in Massachusetts and charged with violating the Espionage Act.
Prosecutors say Teixeira leaked classified documents, including some related to troop movements during the Ukraine conflict to a group of gamers on the messaging app Discord. In a filing late on April 27, prosecutors said the suspect had destroyed evidence and was also prone to online violence. Therefore, the suspect should be detained pending trial because of the risk of absconding and posing a threat.
Suspect Teixeira lives with his mother and stepfather. Teixeira also kept a gun locker two feet from his bed, which contained handguns, machine guns and a military-style rifle with a large magazine, according to government records.
The government said FBI agents also found a gas mask, ammunition and what appeared to be "a silencer-like accessory" in a drawer.
However, Teixeira's lawyer, Brendan Kelley, said his client had not broken gun laws and that the weapon was stored and locked.
In court filings, prosecutors revealed that Teixeira was suspended from high school after making racist threats and comments about guns. According to prosecutors, Teixeira alleged that the comments were related to references in a video game.
Most recently, in November 2022, suspect Teixeira claimed that if he had the ability, he would "kill a lot of people" to "kill the weak". This information was given by prosecutors in documents supporting the proposal to keep Teixeira in custody.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper