The US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) is working to keep 36-year-old Brad Kenneth Spafford in custody after claiming the search of his farm in Smithfield led to what may be “the largest seizure by number of finished explosive devices in FBI history.”
Spafford was arrested on December 17 and charged with a single count of possession of an unregistered short-barrel rifle.
However, federal court documents show, in addition to that gun, the FBI located more than 150 homemade improvised explosive devices deemed as pipe bombs. Some were “preloaded into an apparent wearable vest.” Most of the devices were found in a detached garage but some were in bedroom in the house Spafford shared with his wife and two children in a completely unsecured backpack labeled “#nolivesmatter,” the documents allege.
Spafford admitted to keeping a jar of HMTD in his freezer, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Agents reportedly found the jar, also unsecured, next to food with handwritten labels saying “Dangerous” and “Do Not Touch.” According to EDVA, that explosive material is so unstable it can be exploded merely as a result of friction of temperature changes.
Other items reportedly found include lists of explosives and recipes for making explosive materials.
On the Feds radar
Authorities began investigating Spafford after receiving information from an informant in January 2023. The man, described as Spafford’s friend and neighbor reported that Spafford lost several fingers working on a homemade explosive on the 4th of July in 2021, court document explain. That informant also claimed Spafford was stockpiling weapons and homemade ammo.
The informant claimed Spafford and his friends were “preparing for something that Spafford would not be able to do alone.” He said Spafford reported making 50 rounds of ammo a day.
According to the US attorney’s office, the informant has a law enforcement background and reported seeing Spafford with a short barrel rifle. In October 2024, the informant reportedly visited Spafford at the recently purchased, 20-acre in Smithfield. The man was reportedly wearing a wire, and Spafford told him the short barrel rifle he had wasn’t registered because he didn’t believe in registration.
In November 2024, the informant provided authorities a picture of the short barrel rifle in a “go box” that contained several rifles, ammunition, medical kits, Tyvek suits, food, water, and other weapons. Spafford had the go box in his vehicle. And according to court documents, Spafford had expressed support for political assassinations.
On December 6, the ATF confirmed to the FBI that Spafford does not have any tax stamps, registrations for a short barrel rifle, or license to own explosives. Days later, officer Cardwell, a Suffolk PD detective and federal officer on the Joint Terrorism Task Force filed paperwork for a complaint and arrest warrant. The search and Spafford’s arrest occurred the following week.
No release
At a December 30 hearing, Magistrate Judge Lawrence Leonard initially denied the US attorney’s detention request and ordered Spafford released to his mother with electronic monitoring. But federal prosecutors argued that was “simply insufficient to mitigate these extraordinary risks to public safety.”
In its motion to revoke the release order, EDVA emphasized the amount of explosive material found at the farm and that Spafford was using the president’s picture for target practice. He recently sought qualification in sniper-rifle shooting, the document states.
The government argues Spafford poses a danger to the community and to pretrial officers who would need to do periodic inspections. According to the U.S. attorney’s office, although he currently only has one charge he faces numerous potential charges for unlawful possession of unregistered destructive devices.
Immediate release
The defense argued that the government has been watching Spafford for nearly two years and has provided no evidence he is a danger to the community.
“The evidence showed he had never used any explosive device, never threatened to use one, and never threatened any individual or group,” the motion from the defense stated. And there’s no evidence that he had the means to explode the devices recovered, it added.
The defense said the government is “fear-mongering.” Spafford is a married man with children who has had the same job for nine years [at a machine shop, per court documents] and has no criminal record and no history of substance abuse or mental illness. He made some ill-advised comments about the government and political leaders that are not illegal, the defense motion said. And it added that using a likeness of a political leader at a shooting rage is common practice and not a cause for arrest.
“In our society liberty is the norm, and detention prior to trial or without trial is the carefully limited exception,” wrote the defense which requested Spafford’s immediate release.
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