FBI says it seized largest cache of homemade explosives in its history at Virginia home

Washington — The FBI found the largest cache of “finished explosive devices” in the bureau’s history during the arrest of a Virginia man earlier this month, according to court documents.

Federal prosecutors are seeking to keep the man, Brad Spafford, in custody after his Dec. 17 arrest for allegedly possessing an unregistered short barrel rifle. While executing a search warrant at Spafford’s 20-acre farm in the county of Isle of Wight, investigators found “a stockpile of more than 150 homemade improvised explosive devices” that were assessed to be pipe bombs, according to prosecutors. They said some of the pipe bombs were labeled “lethal” and “preloaded into an apparent wearable vest.” 

Most of the devices were allegedly found in a detached garage, while others were found in a backpack in a bedroom “completely unsecured.” Prosecutors said Spafford also “acknowledged to keeping a jar in his freezer of HMTD, an explosive material that is so unstable it can be exploded merely as a result of friction of temperature changes.” Investigators found the jar stored next to food items and labeled “dangerous” and “do not touch,” prosecutors said. 

According to court documents, which were first reported by the website Court Watch, the investigation began in early 2023 after Spafford’s neighbor told authorities that Spafford was stockpiling weapons and had lost three fingers on his right hand. 

“Even after losing his own fingers as a result of his homemade explosive materials, he made the apparent remarkable decision to keep an extraordinarily dangerous explosive material in the home’s freezer next to food items that could be accessed by the entire family,” prosecutors said, arguing the man “poses an extreme danger to the community” and should remain in custody.

The neighbor also told authorities that Spafford was using photos of President Biden for target practice at a local shooting range. The neighbor said Spafford believed that “political assassinations should be brought back” and that “missing children in the news had been taken by the federal government to be trained as school shooters.” After President-elect Donald Trump was nearly assassinated in July at a Pennsylvania rally, Spafford allegedly told his neighbor that “he hoped the shooter doesn’t miss Kamala,” prosecutors said. 

His attorneys have argued he should be released pending trial, telling the court that he has “no criminal record and no history of substance abuse or mental illness.”

“There is not a shred of evidence in the record that Mr. Spafford ever threatened anyone and the contention that someone might be in danger because of their political views and comments is nonsensical,” his lawyers wrote in a filing on Tuesday. “In fact, the evidence proved that Mr. Spafford is not a danger but a hard-working family man with no criminal record.”