FBI found 150 pipe bombs in Virginia home during search in December, prosecutors say

Numerous law enforcement officers and bomb technicians searched the property on December 17. Officers located the rifle and explosive devices, some of which had been manually labeled as “lethal” and others were loaded in a portable vest. Court documents state. Technicians detonated most of the devices at the site because they deemed them unsafe to transport, although several were preserved for analysis.

At a hearing Tuesday, federal Judge Lawrence Leonard determined that Spafford could be released to house arrest at his mother’s home, but agreed to keep him detained while the government presents further arguments.

In response, prosecutors reiterated why they believe Spafford is dangerous, writing that “while he is not known to have participated in any apparent violence, he has certainly expressed an interest in it, through his manufacturing of papal bombs marked ‘ ‘lethals’, his possession of riot gear and a vest loaded with homemade bombs, his support for political assassinations and the use of photographs of the president for target practice.”