Virginia Man Arrested After FBI Discovers Over 150 Homemade Pipe Bombs, Explosives in His Garage

Federal prosecutors on Monday fought to keep a man behind bars after investigators made the “largest seizure of homemade explosives in FBI history” at his home earlier this month, court documents show. 

An investigation into Virginia resident Brad Spafford was opened in 2023 after his neighbor reported to law enforcement that the defendant had lost three fingers on his right hand in 2021 while working with an explosive device, a federal criminal complaint states.  

The neighbor further alleged that Spafford was also stockpiling weapons and homemade ammunition on his 20-acre farm in Virginia’s Isle of Wight County, around 185 miles south of Washington D.C. 

On Dec. 17, federal agents arrested Spafford for possession of an unregistered short barrel rifle and reportedly “located not only the rifle but a stockpile of more than 150 homemade improvised explosive devices, assessed as pipe bombs,” the complaint noted.

Most of the explosives, according to prosecutors, were found organized by color in Spafford’s detached garage, with some labeled “lethal” and others “preloaded into an apparent wearable vest.”  

Additional pipe bombs were found unsecured in a backpack labeled “#nolivesmatter” in the defendant’s room. 

Federal investigators also recovered tools and materials used to manufacture explosives, a homemade mortar and riot gear, the complaint detailed.  

Inside Spafford’s freezer, bomb technicians located HMTD, “an explosive material so unstable it can be exploded merely as a result of friction of temperature changes,” which was marked with the words “Do Not Touch” and “Dangerous.”  

A notebook recovered during the search allegedly contained an extensive list of explosive recipes, including how to make materials like HMTD, the military grade explosive C-4 and other lethal devices like grenades.  

Federal attorneys, who noted that Spafford had expressed anti-government views and used a picture of President Biden for target practice at a local shooting range, said the defendant “poses an extreme danger to the community.”  

“Even after losing his own fingers as a result of his homemade explosive materials, he made the apparent remarkable decision to keep an extraordinarily dangerous explosive material in the home’s freezer next to food items that could be accessed by the entire family,” prosecutors argued in an attempt to keep him jailed.  

While the federal judge overseeing Monday’s hearing initially denied the government’s request to hold Spafford, the decision to release him was later put on hold while the judge reviewed additional evidence filed by prosecutors.  

As for Spafford, his attorneys argued for his release before trial, saying he “is not a danger but a hard-working family man with no criminal record.”