Airman suspected of leaking secret US documents hit with federal charges

A 21-year-old member of the US Air National Guard accused of leaking top secret military intelligence records online was charged on Friday with unlawfully copying and transmitting classified material.

Jack Teixeira of North Dighton, Massachusetts, who was arrested by heavily armed FBI agents at his home on April 13, made his initial appearance in a crowded federal court wearing a brown khaki jumpsuit, Reuters reports.

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

During the brief proceeding, Teixeira said little, answering “yes” when asked whether he understood his right to remain silent.

The judge said Mr Teixeira’s financial affidavit showed he qualified to be represented by a federal public defender, and he appointed one.

After the hearing, three of Teixeira’s family members left the courthouse, with a group of reporters trailing them for several blocks. They entered a car without making any comments.

The leaked documents were believed to be the most serious U.S. security breach since more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables appeared on the WikiLeaks website in 2010. The Pentagon has called the leak a “deliberate, criminal act.”

This leak did not come to light until it was reported by the New York Times last week even though the documents were posted on a social media website weeks earlier.