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.
Photo byUS District Court EDVA records
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.