A Virginia resident, who amassed over 150 pipe bombs and used an image of Joe Biden for target practice—declaring a return to “political assassinations” while at a shooting range—has received an eight-year prison sentence.

Brad Spafford, aged 36, was sentenced 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.

“Spafford’s creation and accumulation of explosive devices posed a grave threat to himself and others,” stated Lindsey Halligan, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, who was recused from the James Comey case. “This sentence, along with the injuries Mr. Spafford suffered, should warn against the creation of homemade explosives,” Halligan added.

According to court records, Spafford became the subject of an investigation in January 2023 after a neighbor, who also served as a law enforcement officer, reported his activities to the FBI and subsequently became a confidential human source (CHS) for the agency. Spafford had been admitted to an emergency room back in July 2021, presenting with a completely amputated right thumb, partially amputated fingers, hearing loss, and scalp injuries due to a misfire of a “launcher” at a family member’s property in rural Virginia. It was there he reportedly “frequently detonated explosives he crafted,” as detailed in a DOJ press release issued on Thursday.

The DOJ release states, “Spafford falsely claimed to the hospital that his injuries resulted from fireworks.”

The informant who emerged in early 2023 reported a series of alarming behaviors exhibited by Spafford, who often voiced strong opposition to most government regulations, especially those concerning firearms and weapons. Among the components Spafford used for his explosive devices was Tannerite, a brand known for its binary explosive shooting targets that detonate upon being hit by a high-velocity bullet, commonly utilized for long-distance 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.”