BOSTON, Mass. – Jack Teixiera faced a federal judge Friday in Boston charged with the unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and willful retention of classified documents.
The 21-year-old’s parents left the courtroom and faced questions from reporters; the boy’s father shouted to his son in the courtroom, “I love you, Jack.”
“This is not just about taking home documents, that is of course illegal, but this is about the transmission,” said Merrick Garland, the United States Attorney General.
It is reported that Teixiera transmitted the top-secret material through the invite-only internet group, Discord, popular with gamers.
It’s alleged that the guardsman began posting the documents to impress his friends.
The Pentagon has begun a damage assessment to find out if national security has been compromised. In the meantime, they plan to reduce access to materials such as the ones Teixiera was able to obtain.
“We do have stringent guidelines in place for safeguarding classified and sensitive information,” according to the Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder of the Department of Defense.