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

NORFOLK, Va. — A Virginia man pleaded not guilty Wednesday in a federal case in which he is accused from stockpiling the largest number of completed explosives in FBI history and using President Joe Biden’s photo for target practice.

Shackled by the legs and wearing an orange jumpsuit, Brad Spafford, 36, said little more than answering mostly “yes” and “no” questions from a federal magistrate during his arraignment in U.S. District Court in Norfolk.

The hearing focused primarily on setting a May 28 trial date, which is necessary to give attorneys sufficient time to review a vast amount of evidence.

Rebecca Gantt, a federal prosecutor, told a judge that authorities are still analyzing evidence from the FBI’s seizure of about 150 pipe bombs and other homemade devices from Spafford’s home in Isle of Wight County, northwest of Norfolk.

Most of the explosives were detonated on the Spafford property, requiring soil analysis, while some devices were taken to a laboratory for testing, Gantt said. She added that investigators were still searching Spafford’s electronic devices, including a phone with 500,000 images on it, among other evidence.

Spafford faces one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device and one count of possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle. Both crimes carry a prison sentence of up to ten years.

One of Spafford’s attorneys, Kenneth Woodward, told the judge that the National Firearms Act, under which Spafford is charged, does not define what an explosive device is.

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

“There is not a shred of evidence in the record that Mr. Spafford ever threatened anyone and the claim that anyone could be in danger because of his political views and comments is nonsensical,” his lawyers wrote in a court filing after his arrest.

The investigation into Spafford began in 2023 when an informant told authorities that Spafford was stockpiling guns and ammunition, court documents show. The informant, a friend and member of law enforcement, told authorities that Spafford used photos of the president for target practice and that “he believed political killings should come back,” prosecutors wrote.

Numerous law enforcement officers and bomb technicians searched the property on December 17.

Spafford very unstable explosive material stored in a garage freezer next to “Hot Pockets and frozen corn on the cob,” according to court documents. Investigators also said they found explosives in an unsecured backpack marked “#NoLivesMatter.”

Spafford’s attorneys had argued for his release as he awaits trial. But last week, a federal judge ruled that he should remain in prison, writing that Spafford has “demonstrated a capacity for extreme danger.”

U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen mentioned in her ruling that Spafford lost three fingers in an accident involving homemade explosives in 2021, something she said his lawyers have not disputed.

Defense attorneys had argued that Spafford, who is married and the father of two young daughters, has a steady job as a machinist and has no criminal record.

Attorney Jeffrey Swartz said during Spafford’s hearing that investigators had been gathering information about him since January 2023, during which Spafford never threatened anyone.

“And what did he do in those two years?” Swartz said. “He bought a house. He raised his children. He has a great marriage. He has a fantastic job, and those things all still exist for him.”

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

“But when the defendant stated in a recorded telegram in October 2024 that he had an unstable primary explosive in the freezer, the government quickly acted,” prosecutors wrote.