Man Suspected of Leaking Secret US Documents Appears in Court

A federal police vehicle is parked outside U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass., Friday, April 14, 2023 as Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira appears for an initial hearing after being accused of leaking highly classified military documents. Teixeira appeared in court to face charges of unauthorized removal and retention of classified and national defense information. (AP)
A federal police vehicle is parked outside U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass., Friday, April 14, 2023 as Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira appears for an initial hearing after being accused of leaking highly classified military documents. Teixeira appeared in court to face charges of unauthorized removal and retention of classified and national defense information. (AP)
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Man Suspected of Leaking Secret US Documents Appears in Court

A federal police vehicle is parked outside U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass., Friday, April 14, 2023 as Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira appears for an initial hearing after being accused of leaking highly classified military documents. Teixeira appeared in court to face charges of unauthorized removal and retention of classified and national defense information. (AP)
A federal police vehicle is parked outside U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass., Friday, April 14, 2023 as Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira appears for an initial hearing after being accused of leaking highly classified military documents. Teixeira appeared in court to face charges of unauthorized removal and retention of classified and national defense information. (AP)

A 21-year-old member of the US Air Force National Guard accused of leaking highly classified military intelligence records online made his initial appearance before a federal judge in Boston on Friday to face charges he unlawfully removed and retained classified materials.

Jack Douglas Teixeira of North Dighton, Massachusetts, who was arrested by a team of heavily armed FBI agents at his home on Thursday, appeared in federal court wearing a brown khaki jumpsuit.

At the hearing, Boston's top federal national security prosecutor, Nadine Pellegrini, requested that Teixeira be detained pending trial, and a detention hearing was set for Wednesday.

The leaked classified documents at the heart of the investigation were posted online on a social media website in March and perhaps earlier, but news of their existence did not come to light until it was reported by the New York Times last week.

It is believed to be the most serious security breach since more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables appeared on the WikiLeaks website in 2010. In the WikiLeaks case, the leaker - US Army Private First Class Chelsea Manning - was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Democratic President Barack Obama later commuted her sentence.

US officials are still assessing the damage done by the leaks, which included records showing purported details of Ukrainian military vulnerabilities and embarrassed Washington by revealing its spying on allies.

In a criminal complaint made public on Friday, Teixeira was charged with unlawfully copying and possessing classified defense records. Each offense can carry up to 10 years in prison.

He was also charged with another offense which makes it a crime for an employee of the United States to knowingly remove classified records to an unauthorized location.

In a sworn statement, an FBI agent said that Teixeira had held a top secret security clearance since 2021, and that he also maintained sensitive compartmented access to other highly classified programs.

Since May 2022, the FBI said Teixeira has been serving as an E-3/airman first class in the US Air Force National Guard and has been stationed at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts.

Teixeira only spoke twice during the brief proceeding, answering "yes" when asked if he understood his right to remain silent.

He also confirmed that he had filled out a financial affidavit, which the judge said shows he will qualify to be represented by a federal public defender.

The Justice Department opened a formal criminal probe last week into the current leaks, after a referral from the Department of Defense. The leak was a "deliberate, criminal act," the Pentagon said on Thursday, adding that the military had taken steps to review distribution lists and ensure people receiving information had a need to know.

It was not clear whether Teixeira had yet secured legal representation.

Reuters has reviewed more than 50 of the documents, labeled "Secret" and "Top Secret," but has not independently verified their authenticity. The number of documents leaked is likely to be over 100.

The investigative news outlet Bellingcat, the Washington Post and the New York Times have traced the documents' earliest appearance to a defunct server on the instant messaging site Discord. In a chat group on the site, Teixeira went by the handle OG and was admired by the group's mostly young members, who shared a love for guns and military gear.



54 Migrants Rescued from Mediterranean Oil Platform

FILED - 31 May 2025, France, Gravelines: A group of people thought to be migrants onboard a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines, France, attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire/dpa
FILED - 31 May 2025, France, Gravelines: A group of people thought to be migrants onboard a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines, France, attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire/dpa
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54 Migrants Rescued from Mediterranean Oil Platform

FILED - 31 May 2025, France, Gravelines: A group of people thought to be migrants onboard a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines, France, attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire/dpa
FILED - 31 May 2025, France, Gravelines: A group of people thought to be migrants onboard a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines, France, attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire/dpa

Over 50 migrants were headed to the Italian island of Lampedusa Sunday after a charity ship rescued them from an abandoned oil platform in the Mediterranean, where one woman gave birth.

The vessel Astral, operated by the Spain-based NGO Open Arms, rescued the 54 people overnight, the group said in a statement.

The migrants had been trapped on the oil platform for three days after their rubber boat shipwrecked following their departure from Libya on Tuesday, Open Arms said.

On Friday, one of the migrants gave birth to a boy, while another woman had given birth days before. Two other young children were among the group, Open Arms said, according to AFP.

Later Sunday, the charity said that, following the rescue of those on the oil platform, the Astral came upon another 109 people, including four people in the water.

That group, which included 10 children, had also departed from Libya, it said.
Open Arms said they provided life jackets to the migrants before they were rescued by another charity ship, the Louise Michel, which is sponsored by street artist Banksy.

The Louise Michel, a former French navy vessel, was transporting the migrants to a safe port in Sicily, Open Arms said.

It is not unusual for migrants crossing the Mediterranean on leaky and overcrowded boats to seek refuge on offshore oil platforms.

As of June 1, some 23,000 migrants had reached Italy by sea this year, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).