The FBI arrested a Virginia man last month after agents allegedly discovered a short-barreled rifle and 150 pipe bombs on his farm, the agency’s largest seizure of such devices in its history.
According to court documents, agents began their investigation in early 2023 after receiving information about a 36-year-old man named Brad Spafford who was stockpiling weapons and ammunition.
Spafford allegedly possessed a short-barreled rifle when a homemade bomb exploded in his right hand in 2021, resulting in the loss of three fingers. An informant informed the FBI that Spafford was using images of President Joe Biden as target practice, according to a memorandum of support.
Agents allegedly found 150 pipe bombs, some labeled “lethal,” in Spafford’s bedroom and detached garage during a search of his farm in Isle of Wight County.
They also discovered tools and materials in the garage, including homemade fuses and pieces of PVC pipe, according to court documents.
The document described the jar containing HMTD in the freezer as “so unstable it can explode merely” due to temperature changes. Federal authorities found the jar, labeled “Dangerous” and “Do not touch,” among food items.
The FBI reported that children had access to this freezer.
According to authorities, the FBI informant stated that Spafford has “expressed support” for political assassination and violence.
Several weeks after then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, the defendant allegedly stated that he “hoped the shooter didn’t miss ‘Kamala.'”
Spafford moved into the 20-acre farm outside of Norfolk this past fall.
According to authorities, the informant visited the farm in October while wearing a wire. Later, Spafford allegedly confessed to possessing the short-barrel rifle, asserting its unregistered status due to his “non-belief in registration.”
The defendant also allegedly stated that he intended to fortify his property by mounting a 50-caliber firearm on the rifle, which could spin 360 degrees, so that he could shoot anyone he deemed an intruder.
After Spaffer allegedly told the informant about the extremely explosive material in the garage freezer, the FBI obtained a search warrant for the property, resulting in his arrest.
Agents deemed some of the devices “too unstable to transport and maintain,” prompting bomb technicians to detonate them immediately.
Agents seized and returned others to the lab for testing, including one “capable of causing property damage, personal injury, and/or death.” Spafford allegedly kept bomb-making “recipes” handwritten in notebooks.
The National Firearms Act charges Spafford with one count of firearm possession. The Department of Justice argued in court that Spafford should remain in custody pending his trial.
A section of that document elaborates.
The defendant has the undisputed know-how, resources, and extreme inclination to manufacture and stockpile improvised explosive devices. 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.’
Spafford’s attorney argued his client should be released because he never intended to carry out any crimes. He remains behind bars after a judge found probable cause for his arrest.
