The FBI says it has uncovered more than 150 homemade bombs on a farm in Virginia in the United States, in what is thought to be the largest seizure of explosives in the agency’s history, according to court documents.
Agents allegedly found the explosives while searching the family home of 36-year-old machine shop worker Brad Spafford on December 17, after being tipped off by a neighbour that he was stockpiling weapons and homemade ammunition.
In an initial affidavit filed in court on December 10, FBI Task Force officer Rachelann Cardwell said an anonymous source had reported they first noticed Mr Spafford handling explosive devices in July, 2021 when he disfigured his hand while working with a homemade bomb.
FBI images appear to show a jar of HMTD — a “highly unstable” explosive device — stored in a freezer alongside food and labelled “Do Not Touch’. (Supplied: FBI/Eastern District Court of Virginia)
A document then filed in the United States District Court in Virginia on Monday by US attorney Jessica D. Aber described Mr Spafford as “an extreme danger to the community”.
Mr Spafford was charged on December 10 with the unlawful possession of an unregistered short barrel rifle and could face additional charges over the explosives, which each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment.
The court document said some explosives were assessed by FBI agents as pipe bombs which were mostly found “in a detached garage, organised by colour” and others were located in a backpack in a bedroom, which Mr Spafford shares with his wife and two young children.
The backpack had been labelled “#nolivesmatter”, the court filing alleged.
FBI agents and prosecutors allege some of the explosive devices had included descriptive labels, such as ‘lethal’ on their exteriors. (Supplied: FBI/Eastern District Court of Virginia)
The court document also said that some of the explosives were “preloaded into an apparent wearable vest” alongside “numerous tools and materials for manufacturing explosives, a home-made mortar, and riot gear”.
The filing added that Mr Spafford’s freezer contained a jar of HMTD — a “highly unstable” explosive device — photographed by FBI officials while stored alongside food and labelled “Do Not Touch.”
Ms Aber said in the document that the HMTD “is so unstable it can be exploded merely as a result of friction of temperature changes”.
His home also had a notebook of “recipes” for making explosives including grenades, according to the filing.
FBI agents and prosecutors allege that among the devices found and seized during the raid, an explosive vest was uncovered. (Supplied: FBI/Eastern District Court of Virginia)
The court document alleged that Mr Spafford had used pictures of President Joe Biden for shooting target practice at a local shooting range and “stated that he believed political assassinations should be brought back.”
A neighbour told FBI agents that Mr Spafford had discussed fortifying his property with “a 360-degree turret for a 50-calibre firearm on the roof.”
In her initial affidavit, Ms Cardwell also said that Mr Spafford had created a “go box”, which he had filled with medical supplies, weapons, ammunition, food and water and stored in the back of a car.
In a separate filing on Tuesday, Mr Spafford’s attorneys defended him as “a hard-working family man with no criminal record” while arguing for him to be released from custody.
A short barrel rifle was uncovered by FBI agents during the raid along with stockpiles of homemade ammunition. (Supplied: FBI/Eastern District Court of Virginia)
A judge initially agreed for Mr Spafford to be released with a $25,000 bond into the custody of his mother while wearing an electronic ankle monitor, but prosecutors filed for an emergency stay to delay that order on the basis that he posed “extraordinary risks to public safety”.
“The release order unreasonably places the dangerous burden of policing the defendant to ensure he does not again make volatile explosive materials on both his mother and the pretrial officers who must periodically inspect his residence,” Ms Aber said in the court document.
ABC/AFP
