Winchester Civil War reenactor pleads not guilty to planting a pipe bomb at Cedar Creek Battlefield

Winchester resident Gerald Leonard Drake pleaded not guilty on Friday to 15 charges alleging that he planted a pipe bomb at Cedar Creek Battlefield in 2017 and threatened to disrupt other events, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia.

A federal indictment against Drake, 63, was unsealed Thursday.

Civil War Re-enactor indicted for planting pipe bomb at Cedar Creek Battlefield – Gerald Drake also charged with stalking and mailing threatening letters

The indictment accuses Drake of planting a pipe bomb at Cedar Creek Battlefield during an annual re-enactment in October 2017. The bomb did not detonate, but the event was cancelled after its discovery. Police say the bomb contained metal nuts, a mercury switch, a battery, ball bearings, black and red wires, and powder.

Drake is also charged with writing letters threatening violence at subsequent Cedar Creek re-enactments at an annual Remembrance Day Parade in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

At an October 6 press conference, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Christopher Kavanaugh said Drake falsely claimed connections to Antifa in threatening letters to hide his identity.

“It is not alleged that Mr. Drake is a member of, or affiliated in any way with, any collective of individuals that go by the name Antifa,” Kavanaugh said. “Instead, it is alleged that his letters claimed an affiliation with Antifa to create panic and fear, to sow political discontent in the aftermath of the Charlottesville riots, as well as to cover his tracks and try and confuse federal law enforcement.”

The indictment described Drake as a Civil War re-enactor who regularly participated in events at Cedar Creek until being expelled from his unit in 2014.

Public defender Don Pender, who was appointed to represent Drake, has not responded to a request for comment. United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh for the Western District of Virginia and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katie Burroughs Medearis, Melanie Smith, and Cagle Juhan are prosecuting the case.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Virginia State Police, Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, and the Middletown Police Department participated in the investigation.