Gerald Leonard Drake, Pipe Bomb Planting, Virginia 2017

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Gerald Leonard Drake, a 63-year-old man from Winchester, Virginia, pleaded guilty yesterday to mailing threatening letters and planting a pipe bomb at the Cedar Creek Battlefield in Middletown, Virginia during a Civil War reenactment event in 2017.

Drake, a former Civil War reenactor, belonged to a reenactment unit that participated in the annual reenactment at Cedar Creek Battlefield until he was removed from his unit in 2014. He later volunteered with the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation (CCBF), a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of history related to the Cedar Creek Battlefield and which hosts an annual reenactment attended by merchants, reenactors, and visitors.

On September 23, 2017, a letter was received at the CCBF visitor center addressed to “Cedar Creek Battlefield people.” The envelope and its letter both bore a printed Antifa symbol depicting a black flag overlayed atop a red flag inside of a circle. The letter claimed the reenactment event “clearly celebrates the war to keep African-Americans in chains,” and warned the reenactment organizers that if the event was not cancelled, the trouble Antifa would inflict on Cedar Creek Battlefield would make the riots that took place in Charlottesville in August look like “a Sunday picnic.”

On October 14, 2017, the CCBF hosted the planned 153rd anniversary and reenactment of the Battle of Cedar Creek. During the afternoon hours, an unexploded pipe bomb was discovered in one of the merchant tents. The pipe bomb contained metal nuts, a mercury switch, a battery, ball bearings, black and red wires, powder, and other items.

Deputies from the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene to investigate and seize the explosive device, which was later rendered safe by Virginia State Police. Due to its discovery, all remaining reenactment activities were cancelled, and individuals were evacuated from the area.

Drake admitted today that he manufactured the pipe bomb using a metal pipe nipple, metal nuts, a 9-volt battery, black and red wires, and a mercury switch. The bomb contained powder, Pryodez, and BBs. Drake admitted to placing the bomb at Cedar Creek Battlefield to instill fear and further to sow discontent by falsely claiming that the attempted bombing was politically motivated.

Related Federal Cases