The FBI has reportedly seized the biggest assortment of “completed explosive gadgets” in its historical past from a 20-acre farm close to Norfolk, Virginia, owned by Brad Kenneth Spafford, 36. The Justice Division is looking for to maintain Spafford in custody, alleging his involvement in anti-government extremism.
Spafford was arrested on 17 December on a single cost of possessing an unregistered short-barrel rifle. Throughout a subsequent search of his property in Isle of Wight County, federal brokers uncovered greater than 150 explosive gadgets, together with pipe bombs, some labelled “deadly.”
Based on The New York Occasions, further pipe bombs have been discovered inside Spafford’s home, “loosely stuffed in a backpack bearing a patch formed like a hand grenade and a emblem studying ‘#NoLivesMatter.’”
Far-right ideology linked to explosives cache
The phrase “No Lives Matter” reportedly aligns with a nihilistic, far-right ideology that thrives on encrypted platforms like Telegram. It’s thought-about an offshoot of the accelerationist motion, which advocates radical social change by violence and sabotage. Students consider the phrase could reference a music by pro-Trump Canadian rapper Tom MacDonald.
Court docket paperwork filed by federal prosecutors revealed Spafford had been below investigation since final yr. Authorities have been tipped off by a neighbour who reported that Spafford had misplaced three fingers on his proper hand whereas working with home made explosives and was stockpiling weapons and ammunition. The neighbour alleged Spafford had confided that he and his associates have been “getting ready for one thing” past his capability to undertake alone.
Spafford’s alleged threats
Throughout a detention listening to, native outlet The Smithfield Occasions reported that Spafford expressed a want to “convey again political assassination” and had used {a photograph} of President Joe Biden for goal observe at a taking pictures vary.
Regardless of the gravity of the allegations, a federal decide ordered Spafford’s launch on a $25,000 bond into his mom’s custody, with situations together with digital monitoring and the give up of his passport. Nevertheless, the decide stayed the discharge pending the federal government’s enchantment.
As investigations proceed, the case highlights rising considerations about home extremism and the potential for violence linked to far-right ideologies.