The FBI arrested a Virginia man last month after seizing what prosecutors called the largest cache of “finished explosive devices” in the bureau’s history while executing a search warrant.
According to court documents, Brad Kenneth Spafford, 36, of Isle of Wight County, currently faces just a charge of possessing a short barrel rifle.
A judge ordered on Monday that Spafford, who works at a machine shop in Portsmouth, be released on a mere $25,000 bond, but stayed his order pending an appeal from the Department of Justice, with federal prosecutors saying Spafford is an anti-government extremist who has been stockpiling weapons and homemade ammunition, including the short barrel rifle, for “something that Spafford would not be able to do alone.”
The Dec. 18 FBI search of a 20-acre farm in Isle of Wight purchased by Spafford in 2024 led to the discovery of more than 150 pipe bombs, along with bomb-making materials such as fuses and pieces of PVC pipe, and a jar of HMTD, a highly-volatile explosive material.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Jessica Aber, in arguing for his continued detention, wrote in a court document that Spafford “has used pictures of the President for target practice, expressed support for political assassinations, and recently sought qualifications in sniper-rifle shooting at a local range.”
The “President” in question here is President Biden, but you knew that already.
Spafford also reportedly had devices in a so-called “go-pack” labelled “#nolivesmatter” – a reference to a far right movement that promotes targeted attacks, mass killings, and criminal activity, and has encouraged members to engage in self-harm and animal abuse – and a notebook with “recipes” for how to make explosive materials and devices, including grenades, and inventories of materials that can be used for such manufacture.
“His release poses an extreme danger to those he lives with, the general community, and also the pretrial officers who will be tasked with periodically inspecting his residence for firearms including dangerous and unstable explosives,” Aber wrote.
An attorney for Spafford wrote in a legal brief that “there is no evidence or allegation that Mr. Spafford committed or attempted to commit any act of violence.”
“Additionally, there was no evidence that Mr. Spafford had the means or equipment necessary to explode the devices. The evidence was that professionally trained explosive technicians had to rig the devices to explode them,” wrote the attorney, Lawrence H. Woodward, of the Virginia Beach law firm Ruloff, Swain, Haddad, Morecock, Talbert & Woodward.
“There was no evidence that Mr. Spafford did anything other than make some ill-advised comments about the government and political leaders that are not illegal and are protected by the 1st Amendment. Using a likeness of a political leader as a target at a shooting range is a common practice and not a reason to incarcerate someone,” Woodward wrote.
“The United States’ position that Mr. Spafford is a danger is rank speculation and fear mongering. 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. In fact, the evidence proved that Mr. Spafford is not a danger but a hard-working family man with no criminal record,” Woodward wrote.
Aber, in her court brief, argued that “while this factor” – Spafford’s lack of a criminal record – “generally weighs in the defendant’s favor, particularly regarding any risk of flight, it does little to mitigate his danger to the community.”
“The defendant has the undisputed know-how, resources, and extreme inclination to manufacture and stockpile improvised explosive devices,” Aber wrote. “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. And while he is not known to have engaged in any apparent violence, he has certainly expressed interest in the same, through his manufacture of pipe bombs marked ‘lethal,’ his possession of riot gear and a vest loaded with pipe bombs, his support for political assassinations and use of the pictures of the President for target practice, and his belief that ‘no lives matter.’”
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Chris Graham
