1 of 2 | “Homemade explosive materials” allegedly found at the Virginia home of Brad Spafford earlier this month, according to court documents. The “stockpile of more than 150 homemade improvised explosive devices” is the largest cache in the bureau’s history, the FBI said. Photo courtesy of FBI
Dec. 31 (UPI) — The FBI has arrested a Virginia man after finding the largest stockpile of “finished explosive devices” in the bureau’s history, according to court documents.
Brad Spafford was arrested on Dec. 17, at his farm in Smithfield, according to documents posted Monday. Spafford was charged with failing to register a short barrel rifle. During a search of his home, FBI agents found “a stockpile of more than 150 homemade improvised explosive devices, assessed as pipe bombs.”
“Some of these devices were marked ‘lethal.’ Most of the devices were found in a detached garage, where the FBI also found tools and manufacturing materials, including homemade fuses and pieces of PVC pipe,” according to a detention memo.
“Several additional apparent pipe bombs were found in a backpack in the home’s bedroom, completely unsecured,” the memo added. Prosecutors said the words “no lives matter” were discovered written on the outside of the backpack.
FBI agents and bomb technicians exploded many of the devices on site because they were too dangerous to move.
Investigators took notice of Spafford in 2023 after a neighbor told authorities he 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. Spafford lived at the home with two young children.
Investigators said they found hexamethylene triperoxide diamine, which is “an explosive material that is so unstable it can be exploded merely as a result of friction or temperature changes.”
While prosecutors have argued that Spafford should remain in custody as he “poses an extreme danger to the community,” his defense attorneys have requested Spafford be released pending trial since 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,” Spafford’s lawyers wrote in a filing Tuesday.
“In fact, the evidence proved that Mr. Spafford is not a danger but a hard-working family man with no criminal record.”