A Virginia man has pleaded not guilty to stockpiling the largest number of homemade bombs in FBI history

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A Virginia man pleaded not guilty Wednesday in the federal case charging him stockpiling the largest amount of ready-made explosives in the history of the FBI and using a photo of President Joe Biden for the shooting.

Shackled by the legs and wearing an orange jumpsuit, Brad Spafford, 36, said little during his arraignment in U.S. District Court in Norfolk except to answer yes and no questions from a federal judge.

The hearing focused mainly on setting a trial date of May 28, which is needed to give lawyers enough time to review the massive amount of evidence.

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

Most of the explosives were detonated on the Spafford property, which requires soil analysis, and some of the devices were taken to a lab for testing, Gantt said. She added that investigators are still going through Spafford’s electronic devices, including a phone with 500,000 images on it, among other evidence.

Spafford was charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device and possession of an unregistered handgun. Both are charged with crimes that carry up to 10 years in prison.

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

Woodward declined to comment after Wednesday’s hearing. But Spafford’s lawyers question whether the explosive devices found on his property can be used because “professionally trained explosives technicians would have had to plant the devices to detonate them.”

“There is no evidence in the record that Mr. Spafford ever threatened anyone, and the assertion that anyone could be in danger because of his political views and comments is preposterous,” his defense attorneys wrote in a court filing after his arrest. .

According to court documents, the investigation into Spafford began in 2023 when an informant told authorities that Spafford was stockpiling guns and ammunition. The informant, a friend and fellow law enforcement officer, told authorities that Spafford used photos of the president for target practice and that “he believed that political assassinations should be returned,” prosecutors wrote.

Numerous law enforcement officers and bomb squads searched the residence on December 17.

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

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

US District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen specified in its resolution that Spafford lost three fingers in an improvised explosive device accident in 2021, which she said his defense attorneys did not dispute.

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

Defense attorney Jeffrey Schwartz said at Spafford’s detention hearing that investigators had been gathering information on him since January 2023, during which time Spafford had never threatened anyone.

“And what did he do in those two years?” said Schwartz. “He bought a house. He raised his children. He is in a wonderful marriage. He’s got a fantastic job and all those things still exist for him.”

Investigators, however, said they had limited knowledge of the homemade bombs until the informant visited Spafford’s home, federal prosecutors wrote in a statement.

“But once the defendant said on the tape in October 2024 that he had unstable primary explosives in his freezer, the government took prompt action,” prosecutors wrote.