Pentagon leak suspect made 'violent' threats, officials say

US prosecutors said on Thursday that the National Guard member accused of leaking top secret documents from the Pentagon had a history of "violent" speech.

Justice Department officials said that Jack T. posed "an ongoing risk" to US national security and asked for his continued detention until trial.

The 21-year-old IT specialist of the US Air National Guard was arrested earlier this month and has been accused of orchestrating the most damaging leak of US classified documents in a decade.

His arrest followed a week-long probe, after the sensitive documents were posted online. Among the information that became public were memos describing US concern over Ukraine's military capacity against invading Russian forces, as well as instances of alleged spying by Washington on allies Israel and South Korea.

Officials say that Jack T. may still have access to classified documents, and they warned that he poses "a serious flight risk." 

"He accessed and may still have access to a trove of classified information that would be of tremendous value to hostile nation states that could offer him safe harbor and attempt to facilitate his escape from the United States," the Justice Department filing said.

Weapons and violent speech

Prosecutors say Jack T. has a troubling history of violent speech dating back to his high school years and continuing to the present day, even as he began his career with the National Guard.

In 2018, he was suspended from school after a classmate overheard him discussing Molotov cocktails and other weapons, in addition to racial threats. 

The 21-year-old repeatedly had "detailed and troubling discussions about violence and murder" on the Discord platform, where authorities say he unlawfully shared the classified documents. 

Among the things he allegedly said, Jack T. told friends on Discord that he was tempted to make a minivan into an "assassination van," prosecutors wrote.

Officials also mentioned that he had researched past mass shootings and high-profile far-right standoffs with federal agencies, like the Waco and Ruby Ridge incidents, all on his government computer.

Pentagon: no systemic security issues

The case has brought fresh scrutiny to the Pentagon, raising questions about oversight of the Pentagon's classified systems and military personnel with top security clearances.

But the Pentagon said on Thursday that the leak did not necessarily mean there was a systemic security problem within the US military.

"I think it's important not necessarily to take the actions of one individual and somehow paint a picture that that indicates a systemic breakdown," Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, told a news briefing.

The Pentagon has said it plans to conduct its own review of access to sensitive intelligence to prevent a similar leak in the future.

jcg/kb (AFP, Reuters, AP)