Civil War reenactor Gerald Leonard Drake, 63, of Winchester, Virgina pleaded guilty this week for placing a pipe bomb on the pretend battlefield. The bomb didn't explode but caused the organizers to cancel the reenactment. Doesn't he know that pipe bombs weren't used in the Civil War? Why would Drake do such a thing? Welp, turns out he's a total asshole. From NBC News:
He also admitted writing letters in 2017 and 2018 in which he falsely portrayed himself as part of a group of antifa activists who were targeting the reenactments because they believed them to glorify slavery. The letters threatened violence at subsequent Cedar Creek reenactments as well as an annual Remembrance Day Parade in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
"This defendant sought to intimidate and harm innocent people, and further, he tried to sow discontent by falsely claiming that the attempted bombing was politically motivated," said U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Christopher Kavanaugh, whose office prosecuted the case.
