CNN
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Prosecutors are fighting to keep a Virginia man behind bars after they say investigators discovered what may be the largest number of “finished explosive devices” in FBI history at his 20-acre home near Norfolk.
The man, Brad Spafford, was arrested earlier this month for possession of an illegal, unregistered short-barreled shotgun. During the arrest, the FBI – including bomb technicians – executed a search warrant on his property and found a stockpile of more than 150 apparent pipe bombs, which were x-rayed at the scene, according to prosecutors. Some would have been marked “fatal”.
Prosecutors say the pipe bombs were found in a backpack in a detached garage and that some “were preloaded in an apparently wearable vest.”
In court filings arguing that Spafford should remain imprisoned, prosecutors allege that Spafford used photos of President Joe Biden for shooting training, “has expressed support for political assassinations and recently sought qualifications for sniper rifle shooting at a local shooting range.”
After the assassination attempt on the president-elect Donald Trump In Pennsylvania, prosecutors wrote that Spafford “said he hoped the shooter wouldn’t miss ‘Kamala'” in an apparent reference to the vice president in his communications with his neighbor.
The investigation into Spafford began when his neighbor reported that he allegedly stockpiled homemade guns and ammunition and that he lost three fingers on his right hand in 2021 while working with a homemade explosive device, according to prosecutors.
In a filing Tuesday seeking their client’s release, Spafford’s lawyers said he was charged with only one count of possession of an illegal firearm, that there had no evidence that Spafford ever used the weapon and he had no criminal record.
His lawyers also wrote that “professionally trained explosives technicians had to rig the devices to detonate them” and that there was no evidence he had the ability to detonate the devices himself.
“The government argues that Mr. Spafford should be detained because he poses a danger to the community, despite the fact that the government has been carefully investigating and monitoring Mr. Spafford for approximately two years using a confidential human source who has been a friend and confidant of Mr. Spafford,” his lawyers wrote. “During this entire period, there is no evidence or allegation that Mr. Spafford committed or attempted to commit any act of violence.”
His lawyers also said that using the image of a political leader at a shooting range is “common practice” and that his alleged “ill-advised comments about the government and political leaders” are protected by the Constitution. .