Extreme vetting at the gate

May have been something that led up to tension over the weekend at the gate. Upon arrival, the folks in front of me and myself got yelled at to turn our engines off (?!?) and upon exiting, they were refusing entry at about 7 pm, two arriving cars affected. Pulled up to the first vehicle and asked them what happened. They were denied entry. We both thought entry cutoff was later than that. Forgot to tell them to park at the Freedom lot instead.