Worcester (Massachusetts): A US Air National Guardsman accused of leaking classified military documents has a history of making violent threats, using his government computer to research mass shootings, and trying 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 will present their arguments in favour of detention to a US magistrate judge in Worcester, Massachusetts, on Thursday afternoon.

Teixeira’s lawyers have not commented on the case, and are expected to argue at Thursday’s hearing that he should not be detained pre-trial.

The filing, which also contained photos of the suspect’s bedroom from the FBI’s search of his home, said that in July of 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.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2023