Virginia man pleads not guilty to stockpiling largest collection of homemade bombs in FBI history

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A Virginia man pleaded not guilty Wednesday in a federal case accusing him of stockpiling the largest quantity of finished explosives in FBI history and using President Joe Biden’s Photo of Biden taking target practice.

Wearing chains on his legs and an orange jumpsuit, 36-year-old Brad Spafford did nothing but answer the federal judge’s mostly “yes” questions during his arraignment in U.S. District Court in Norfolk. Apart from the “no” question, little was said.

The hearing focused on setting a May 28 trial date to give attorneys enough time to review the voluminous evidence.

Federal prosecutor Rebecca Gantt told the judge that authorities were still analyzing about 150 pipe bombs and other homemade weapons seized by the FBI at Spafford’s home in Isle of Wight County, northwest Norfolk. Evidence of device.

Gant said most of the explosives were detonated on Spafford’s property and required soil analysis, while some devices were taken to a laboratory for examination. She added that investigators were still examining Spafford’s electronic devices, including a cellphone with 500,000 images on it, among other evidence.

Spafford faces one count of possessing an unregistered destructive device and one count of possessing an unregistered short-barreled rifle. Both counts are felonies, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

One of Spafford’s attorneys, Kenneth Woodward, mentioned to the judge that the National Firearms Act against which Spafford was charged does not define what constitutes an explosive.

Woodward declined to comment after Wednesday’s hearing. But Spafford’s attorneys questioned whether the explosive devices found on his property were usable because “professionally trained explosives technicians would have to manipulate the devices to detonate them.”

“There is no evidence in the record that Mr. Spafford ever threatened anyone, and the suggestion that someone might be in danger because of his political views and speech is meaningless,” his defense attorney said at the time of his arrest. wrote in a subsequent court filing.

The investigation into Spafford began in 2023 when an informant told authorities that Spafford was stockpiling weapons and ammunition, according to court documents. The informant, a friend and member of law enforcement, told authorities that Spafford was using photos of the president for target practice “and that he believed political assassinations should resume,” prosecutors wrote.

On December 17, numerous law enforcement officers and bomb technicians searched the property.

Court documents state Spafford stored a highly unstable explosive material in a garage freezer next to “hot pockets and frozen corn on the cob.” Investigators also said they found an explosive device in an unsecured backpack labeled “#NoLivesMatter.”

Spafford’s lawyers have argued for his release while he awaits trial. But last week, a federal judge ruled that he must remain in prison, writing that Spafford “has demonstrated an ability to respond to extreme danger.”

In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen noted that Spafford lost three fingers in a 2021 incident involving homemade explosives, her defense said. The lawyer did not dispute this.

Defense attorneys argued that Spafford was a married father of two young daughters, a stable mechanic with no criminal record.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Swartz said during Spafford’s detention hearing that investigators had been gathering information about him since January 2023 and that Spafford had never threatened anyone during that time. .

“So what has he been doing these past two years?” Swartz said. “He bought a house. He raised his kids. He had a great marriage. He had a great job, and those things are still there for him.

However, investigators said they had limited knowledge of the homemade bombs before a lineman visited Spafford’s home, federal prosecutors wrote in a filing.

“But when the defendant indicated in a recorded phone call in October 2024 that he had unstable explosives in his refrigerator, the government acted quickly,” prosecutors wrote.