Largest seizure of homemade explosives in FBI history is made at Virginia farm, agents say

Jane Harper, The Virginian-Pilot on Dec 31, 2024

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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — An Isle of Wight County man alleged to have stockpiled the largest number of homemade explosives ever seized by the FBI is in custody following a recent raid at his 20-acre farm.

Brad Kenneth Spafford, 36, was arrested Dec. 17 following the execution of a search warrant at the Foursquare Road home he shares with his wife and young children, according to documents filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Norfolk.

Spafford is charged only with possessing an unregistered short barrel rifle, but more charges are likely, the court documents said.

Also, the documents said he works for a machine shop in Portsmouth.

FBI agents and bomb technicians found more than 150 explosive devices, with most being pipe bombs, the records said. The majority were found in a detached garage, where the devices were organized by color, according to motion filed by federal prosecutors.

Riot gear and tools and materials used to manufacture explosives also were located. A backpack with a picture of a grenade and the hashtag “#NOLIVESMATTER” printed on it was found “completely unsecured” in a bedroom with more pipe bombs stashed inside, the document said.

In a freezer in the garage, agents found a jar marked “Dangerous” and “Do Not Touch” placed next to food items. The jar contained a material so unstable that a change in temperature could cause an explosion, the documents claimed. A notebook containing an inventory of Spafford’s explosive devices, and recipes for them, also was collected, the records said.

The investigation into Spafford began in January 2023, when a neighbor and former law enforcement officer reported that Spafford had previously lost three fingers while handling a homemade explosive, and was stockpiling weapons.

The neighbor also reported that Spafford had told him he was making about 50 rounds of homemade ammunition each day, and was “preparing for something” he couldn’t do alone, the records state.

The neighbor told investigators Spafford sometimes used President Joe Biden’s picture for target practice, and expressed support for political assassinations, the court documents said. After the failed assassination attempt on President-elect Donald Trump’s in July, Spafford allegedly told his neighbor he “hoped the shooter doesn’t miss Kamala.” The neighbor told investigators that Spafford believed that “missing children in the news had been taken by the federal government to be trained as school shooters.”

Spafford initially was granted bond after a hearing Monday by a Norfolk federal magistrate judge, but it was later revoked after prosecutors argued he was too dangerous to be free on bond. He’s being held at the Western Tidewater Regional Jail.

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