Redcoat, I agree that law enforcement was not prepared. And I'm sorry you had to see our country at it's worst. Nothing like this has happened before at an reenactment. And while after an investigation they thought the letter was not credible, they were not prepared for someone else to do what the letter had stated.
Cedar Creek was a wake up call. Gettysburg Remembrance day was different. It was threatened, but law enforcement was ready and the security was high.
The Reenacting community was also unprepared - many of us (me included) thought, "not us, why would they target us with violence?" We were only expecting the occasional protester. We were wrong. I have attended annual meetings post Cedar creek for 2 of the organizations our battery is a member of. Now instead of discussing how the different units will be organized, they are now looking at plans on how to secure our camp and equipment ( with artillery, we have a lot of powder to secure), what to do if an incident occurs, and how to account for all members. The reenactment community was not prepared for this, but will be the next time.
My son was in command of the battery a Cedar Creek. Some information was passed down through reenacting command chains regarding the incident from law enforcement. Most is not for public release, but the one thing that I can say is that the device was a live, active device and not a fake.