Jack Teixeira's release would pose security threat, US argues

US prosecutors have argued that releasing an airman suspected of leaking classified files would pose a "threat" to national security.

Jack Teixeira, 21, appeared in a Massachusetts federal court for a pretrial detention hearing on Thursday.

The judge said he needed more time to make a ruling on whether Mr Teixeira would be released on bail.

The airman is charged with unauthorised transmission and retention of defence materials.

He has been in custody since his arrest on 14 April.

Speaking before Judge David Hennessy on Thursday, prosecutors said the IT specialist, who served in the 102nd Intelligence Support Squadron in Massachusetts, would pose a "grave threat to the US national security" if he were to be released from custody pending his trial.

According to the prosecutors, he has a history of making violent threats and researching mass shootings and they allege he kept a cache of weapons in his home.

Prosecutors argued they feared he would attempt to flee or obstruct justice if he was released.

"He had constantly and consistently put himself before all else," they said.

Mr Teixeira's defence lawyer responded that Judge Hennessy should allow him to be released with restrictions, staying in his home in the presence of either relatives, Air Force personnel, or attorneys.

He denied his client posed a serious flight risk, and said suggestions by prosecutors that foreign adversaries would seek to take advantage of Mr Teixeira's release are rooted in "speculation".

"He remains a 21-year-old kid living in the only community he has known his whole life," said Brendan Kelley.

The judge challenged that statement, saying he was not sure that the government's concern "is entirely imaginative".

"Information about the Russia-Ukraine war is extremely relevant, and perhaps valuable It sounds like a legitimate concern," he said.

Investigators are still working to determine how Mr Teixeira allegedly leaked dozens of classified files. The documents, which first appeared on Discord, included sensitive information about US allies and the war in Ukraine.

The defence also argued that Mr Teixeira did not intend for classified documents to be distributed beyond the small Discord chat room where he first shared the files - an argument that Judge Hennessey met with skepticism.

"Somebody 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?" he asked. "Seriously?"

Both of Mr Teixeira's parents were present at the hearing. His mother sat in the front row and broke out in tears as her son walked in wearing orange prison garb, according to reporters inside the courtroom.

US justice department court filings released on Wednesday alleged that Mr Teixeira had a troubling history, including a suspension from high school for making violent threats and a social media post where he wrote that he wanted to kill a "ton of people".

The government filing alleged Mr Teixeira kept an "arsenal" of weapons, including a bazooka and other firearms close to his bed.

His defence lawyer said on Thursday that some of the firearms photographed by investigators were airsoft guns - replica guns that shoot small plastic rounds - and argued that Mr Teixiera would not have access to weapons if he were released.

Judge Hennessy declined to say when he would release his decision.