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Somebody saw something and said something - this time [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-01-01
From the N.Y. Times:
F.B.I. Says It Found Largest Cache of Homemade Explosives in Its History at Va. Farm Investigators discovered more than 150 devices, mostly pipe bombs, on a property outside Norfolk, court papers say.
The threat was real.
A Virginia man was arrested this month with what federal prosecutors described in court papers on Monday as the largest cache of “finished explosive devices” ever found in the F.B.I.’s history. The man, Brad Spafford, was taken into custody at a farm outside Norfolk on Dec. 17 on the basis of a single-count criminal complaint accusing him of illegally possessing an unregistered short-barrel rifle. When investigators searched his 20-acre property, in Isle of Wight County, they found in a detached garage more than 150 explosive devices — mostly pipe bombs, some of them labeled “lethal,” prosecutors said. They found more pipe bombs in a bedroom inside Mr. Spafford’s house, loosely stuffed in a backpack that bore a patch shaped like a hand grenade and a logo reading “#NoLivesMatter,” prosecutors said.
It was thanks to a neighbor that Spafford was arrested.
According to the court papers, which were reported earlier by the website Court Watch, the investigation into Mr. Spafford began last year, after a neighbor reached out to the authorities. Mr. Spafford had lost three fingers on his right hand while working with a homemade explosive device, the neighbor said, and he was stockpiling weapons and homemade ammunition.
There’s more about Spafford that is unnerving, not least of all that he seems like a type that’s all too easy to imagine lurking out there.
Some observations:
Anyone who thought the return of Trump to the White House would calm the MAGA base extremists is fooling themselves. If anything, they now feel more empowered than ever to act on their anger.
The split between the tech bro billionaires and the MAGA base is also ramping up the potential for violence. Trump supporters who now feel betrayed by him may be ready to retaliate — though predicting their targets is impossible. The motivations behind the terror attack in New Orleans with the truck aren’t yet clear, but this is one scenario that might explain it.
It’s difficult to believe an FBI led by Kash Patel could be trusted to act on terror threats coming from the Right — even though that’s what has been happening. If anything, Republicans would use it as an excuse to crack down even harder on the Left they are demonizing.
The article does not identify the neighbor. Even though that person is a hero, they are likely in fear of their life if outed. What are the odds the Trump regime will protect them — or anyone else who reports a threat coming from the right? They celebrate people who murder those they’ve designated as enemies and undesirables.
The article notes the man arrested claimed he would not be acting alone. How many connections did he have, how did he get the explosives? Followup is critical. Will it happen?
A country that is destabilized by the perception that violence is more and more likely is one more and more vulnerable to authoritarian measures. Fear of speaking out is one of the ways it happens.
It remains to be seen if the media will give this story the attention it deserves. Reflex sanewashing will likely bury it. We have elected a government that promises retaliation against perceived enemies, runs on intimidation, and facilitates stochastic terrorism. Will the media acknowledge this — or that right wing media promotes it?
Welcome to 2025.
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