Three people have been indicted for an alleged hate crime hoax intended to influence the outcome of last year’s Colorado Springs mayoral runoff election in favor of then-candidate Yemi Mobolade. The indictment shows communications exchanged between Mobolade and one of the suspects, Derrick Patrick Bernard, Jr. (aka Phoenixx Ugrilla). Bernard has an extensive criminal record and was recently found guilty of murder in an unrelated case.
The other hate crime hoax suspects are identified in the indictment as Ashley Danielle Blackcloud (aka Ashley Hernandez, aka Trinity Black Cloud); and Deanna Crystal West (aka Vital Sweetz, aka Sage West). According to the indictment, the three suspects were associated with a nonprofit called Family Flavors The Slide WBN which marketed itself as a minority-owned independent broadcasting and multimedia organization.
The indictment offers a timeline of events around the runoff election between the top two mayoral candidates – Yemi Mobolade and Wayne Williams – that was held on May 16, 2023, after no candidate received a majority of votes cast on April 4.
The indictment says that on April 13, Bernard sent a Facebook message to Mobolade. “I know it’s crunch time sir but look … I spoke with some of my friends in other places and theirs [sic] a plot amidst … I’m mobilizing my squadron in defense and for the final push. Black ops style big brother. The klan cannot be allowed to run this city again.”
The indictment alleges that on April 23 between approximately 2:30 and 3:30 a.m., Bernard, Blackcloud and West worked together to place a wooden cross in front of a campaign sign that supporters of Mobolade had put up at the intersection of N. Union Boulevard and E. Fillmore Street. Red spray paint was used to write the n-word on the sign and the cross was set on fire. The suspects then recorded the scene on an iPhone and sent the footage to local broadcast news outlets and others, according to the indictment.
The indictment says that on April 23, at approximately 7:30 p.m., Bernard texted Mobolade, “I guarantee the finish” which the indictment reports was a response to a message from Mobolade about needing support to get to the “finish line” of the mayoral election. (The indictment does not include any quotes from communications by Mobolade, nor any screenshots.)
The indictment goes on to say that on April 25, Bernard texted Mobolade, “Brother some foul stuff came up I’m [sic] our email. I’m not about to play with racist cowards brother.” And on April 26, at around 10:55 p.m., Mobolade and Bernard spoke on the phone for approximately five minutes.
On April 24, the day after the alleged hate crime hoax, KDVR FOX31 published an article titled “Racist vandalism left at Black mayoral candidate’s sign” that quoted Rashad Younger, press secretary with the Rocky Mountain NAACP, who said he’d been in contact with Mobolade’s campaign team.
“They’re assuming this is a hoax,” FOX 31 quoted Younger as saying. “We don’t take this as a hoax, especially with Black and brown communities that have constantly dealt with racism.”
On Nov. 21, the Daily Wire published a story about the hate crime hoax.
The Daily Wire is a conservative American media company who counts content by big names like Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh and Jordan Peterson amongst its paid subscription offerings. Media Bias/Fact Check rates it as having “right bias” and its level of factual reporting as “mixed,” noting that outlets with right bias “are moderate to strongly biased toward conservative causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They may utilize strongly loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports, and omit information reporting that may damage conservative causes.”
The article is titled “Mayor lied in hate crime hoax but DOJ refused to charge him, FBI official says” and subtitled “DOJ issued press release that misrepresented Colorado Springs mayor’s involvement.”
The Daily Wire article characterizes Mobolade as a “left-wing candidate” and does not mention that Mobolade ran as an independent. It reports that an unidentified “FBI official” told the Daily Wire that the FBI wanted to prosecute Mobolade for making false statements related to the hate crime hoax, but the Department of Justice refused to pursue it for racial and political reasons.
The article also reports that the unnamed FBI official said Mobolade was interviewed twice about the hoax, and Mobolade denied contact with Bernard. The official said there were “dozens” of messages between Bernard and Mobolade, but that Mobolade was skipping over those messages, unaware that the FBI had already obtained them elsewhere. The Daily Wire report says that as a result, the FBI referred the mayor to the Department of Justice for charges of making false statements to federal investigators, but the DOJ refused, saying it did not want to indict the first Black mayor of Colorado Springs. It then instead arranged a third interview in which Mobolade answered “I do not recall” to many of the questions, in contrast to earlier interviews in which he had strongly denied contact, according to the unnamed official.
The Daily Wire article also says that an initial press release put out by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado stated that the text message from Bernard about “mobilizing my squad” for “black ops” said the text went to the other defendants. The Daily Wire story says that when the Daily Wire asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Colorado for comment on the allegation that it rejected an FBI criminal referral for false statements and made a false statement in its press release, that it “stealth-edited” the press release to take out the phrase “to the other defendants” without adding the correct recipient.
The Bulletin reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado for comment on The Daily Wire’s reporting of an altered statement and that the Justice Department declined the FBI’s referral for false statement charges. The Bulletin also asked why Mobolade’s messages were not included in the indictment, and how the correspondence between Mobolade and Bernard came to light in the first place. The office declined to comment.
The Bulletin also reached out to the mayor’s office and asked for statements regarding any involvement or knowledge before or after the fact the mayor had of the alleged hoax; what Moboloade thought the text from Bernard about “black ops,” referenced in the indictment, was about; why Mobolade’s campaign team thought it was a hoax; what Mobolade and Bernard spoke about on the phone; why Bernard would have thought he was owed favors and if he or any defendants were offered or received any job, award, or other benefit from the City; what the “info” and “business” were that Bernard referred to in his text to Mobolade; and whether Mobolade had two interviews with the FBI in which he denied contact, per the Daily Wire report.
In response, a spokesperson sent the mayor’s public statement on the issue:
“That incident during my campaign led to a very traumatic time for my family, my campaign team, and our community. My knowledge and interaction with Bernard was as a local media personality, and I was not aware at the time that he was suspected of this crime. I appreciate local and federal law enforcement’s work in pursuing justice and sending a message that we will not tolerate such reprehensible behavior.”
COS city council member publicly requests mayor to address Daily Wire article’s claim
At a work session on Monday, Nov. 25, council member Dave Donelson asked the mayor to speak to the claims made in the Daily Wire article.
“Last week, a report came out that our mayor had met with the FBI and denied contact with the folks who were eventually indicted for a hate crime hoax during the mayoral campaign,” Donelson said. “I would ask the mayor to come forward and answer questions about whether or not he lied to the FBI, which is what’s alleged in that report: that he met with [the FBI] twice, said he had no contact with these individuals. However, in the indictment, it’s clear that he did have contact through text messages, Facebook messenger and a five-minute phone call. So, I think it’s owed to the citizens of Colorado Springs to clear that up. And only he knows the truth on that so I would ask him to answer that question. Thank you.”
Ryan Trujillo, the deputy chief of staff for the City of Colorado Springs, responded.
“We’re certainly aware and disappointed by the unfounded and unsourced allegations by the Daily Wire article,” he said. “We’re mindful and respectful that this is an ongoing investigation, and so we do not anticipate any further comments to be respectful of that investigation for the defendants, none of which [include] Mayor Yemi.”
Donelson responded, “What I’m asking for is not to comment on the charges that have been made against those three individuals, but to simply state whether or not he was interviewed by the FBI twice and denied contact with those three individuals. That’s a separate thing. And that’s what he knows; we don’t know. And there is this kind of a grey cloud now hanging over I’d say him and the city. Is he being up front about that or is he not answering the question and saying, ‘well it has to do with the investigation?’ I’m not asking about the investigation. I’m asking about if he met with the FBI twice, denied contact, then the DOJ interviewed him and he said he doesn’t remember. That’s my question.”
“And again, these allegations are unfounded and unsourced so I will refer you back to the mayor’s public statement,” Trujillo said.
“Then I’m to understand he denies having met with the FBI twice and denied contact –” Donelson began.
“I refer you to his public statement,” Trujillo repeated.
“Ok, his public statement doesn’t address that,” Donelson said.
All parties are innocent until proven guilty. Follow the Pikes Peak Bulletin for updates on this story.
