'Largest Seizure of Homemade Explosives in FBI History’ made in Virginia

The Justice Department is fighting the release of a Virginia man, Brad Spafford, whose house was raided in early December resulting in what a federal prosecutor called the “largest seizure of homemade explosives in FBI history.” 

In recent court filings and during testimony yesterday, a detective assigned to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) told a federal judge that Spafford harbored anti-government beliefs and wanted to “bring back political assassinations.” 

The original criminal complaint, filed on December 10th but unsealed a week later, laid out a relatively common charge against Spafford for possession of an unregistered short barrel rifle. The affidavit, filed by a JTTF agent, noted that an informant told authorities that Spafford had disfigured fingers from a homemade explosion on July 4th 2021. The document noted that Spafford was believed to be stockpiling weapons and ammunition. 

In a motion for detention, prosecutors called Spafford an “extreme danger to the community” and a search of his home revealed more than 150 homemade explosives including pipe bombs. They also discovered a jar of HMTD, an explosive material which was marked ““Dangerous” and “Do Not Touch.” Additionally, counterterrorism agents say they found a notebook with recipes on making explosives.

The Smithfield Times reported that during the Monday detention hearing, a detective testified that “In conversations with the informant, [Spafford] allegedly expressed a desire to “bring back political assassination” and had been using a photograph of President Joe Biden for target practice at a shooting range where he was pursuing a 300- to 400-yard sniper qualification. Following the July assassination attempt on President-elect Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Spafford allegedly remarked to the informant, “Bro, I hope they don’t miss (Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate) Kamala (Harris),” 

A lawyer for Spafford did not return a December 18th request for comment. The U.S. Attorney’s office did not provide a comment for the record. 

During the Monday hearing, a federal judge denied the government’s motion for detention. The judge ordered Spafford released with restrictions such as electronic monitoring and a requirement that Spafford stay with his mother. Federal prosecutors requested an immediate stay of his release order, which was granted by the judge. Following the order, prosecutors filed additional evidence for reconsideration of release which is being reviewed by the judge. 

On Tuesday, Spafford’s lawyer filed a response to DOJ’s motion, stating in part, “The United States’ position that Mr. Spafford is a danger is rank speculation and fear mongering. 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. In fact, the evidence proved that Mr. Spafford is not a danger but a hard-working family man with no criminal record.”

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated on December 31, 2024 at 2:33pm to reflect the Spafford response to DOJ’s motion for reconsideration. Court Watch will continue to monitor the case and has created a landing page of documents related to the case that will be updated as it progresses.