A Virginia resident, who amassed over 150 pipe bombs and used a photo of President Joe Biden for target practice while advocating for the return of political assassinations at a shooting range, has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Brad Spafford, aged 36, received the sentence after pleading guilty earlier this summer to charges of possessing a firearm in violation of the National Firearms Act and owning an unregistered destructive device.

Lindsey Halligan, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, commented on the case, noting, “Spafford’s creation and accumulation of explosive devices posed a significant threat to himself and others.” She further emphasized that the sentence, coupled with the injuries Spafford sustained, should discourage others from attempting to create homemade explosives.

The investigation into Spafford began in January 2023, initiated by a neighbor who also served as a law enforcement officer. This neighbor alerted the FBI and subsequently became a confidential human source for the agency. Spafford was previously admitted to an emergency room in July 2021 with severe injuries, including a completely amputated right thumb, partially amputated right middle and index fingers, hearing loss, and scalp lacerations. These injuries were linked to a misfired “launcher” at a family property in rural Virginia, where he frequently detonated self-made explosives, as detailed in a DOJ press release issued Thursday.

The DOJ release also noted that Spafford had misleadingly informed the hospital that his injuries were the result of fireworks.

The informant who came forward in early 2023 relayed a series of troubling behaviors from Spafford, who repeatedly espoused disdain for most forms of government regulations, particularly those in connection with firearms and other weapons. One of the components Spafford used in constructing explosive devices was Tannerite, a brand of binary explosive shooting targets designed to blow up when struck by a high-velocity bullet and used mostly for long-range target practice.

“In June 2023, after shooting at the range with the CHS, Spafford stated that ‘we need to bring back political assassinations,’ to which [a family member] responded, ‘for real,’” prosecutors wrote in a statement of facts. “During that conversation, Spafford discussed making Tannerite with a substance that makes it as strong as dynamite, and stated he likes to set it off with homemade blasting caps.”

Spafford admitted to creating a special solution that would “remove DNA and fingerprints” from weapons that he practiced with.

“He was using homemade targets with photographs of the President for target practice,” the informant stated. At the time of the comment, Biden was the sitting president.

Roughly two weeks after the near-miss assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a July 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Spafford sent the informant a text message that read, “Bro I hope the shooter doesn’t miss Kamala.” The comment came shortly after then-Vice President Kamala Harris announced her intention to run for president.

On one occasion, the informant reported that he heard Spafford tell a family member that he kept hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD) stored in a deep freezer on the premises. Prosecutors described HMTD as a “peroxide-based primary explosive” that is “highly sensitive and easily detonated as a result of impact friction, or temperature changes.”

Spafford also told the informant that he had an AR-15 that he had modified into a short-barreled rifle. He stated that the weapon was not registered because he “doesn’t believe in any of that,” expressing his desire to install a .50 caliber firearm on the roof of the house, saying, “They can’t get close enough if I’m mowin’ down on my fifty cal,” per the statement of facts.

When authorities arrested Spafford and executed a search warrant on the home in December 2024, he initially claimed that any explosive materials were from fireworks.

In addition to the HMTD, authorities said they recovered about “155 improvised explosive devices” that “appeared to be homemade bombs” in an unlocked garage that also stored “household items and children’s toys.” The HMTD was located in a freezer in the garage, “stored near Hot Pockets, popsicles, and Go-GURT.”

“Among the IEDs analyzed were some with propellant capabilities consistent with use in a launcher and IEDs capable of causing property damage, personal injury, or death,” the DOJ release said Thursday. “Investigators also recovered bomb-making equipment, along with riot gear … two empty grenade canisters, an improvised mine, precursor chemicals for explosive materials, and numerous rounds of homemade ammunition.”