Colorado prosecutors have charged three people with staging a Jussie Smollett-style hate crime during the 2023 election campaign for the Nigerian-American and current mayor of Colorado Springs.
Yemi Mobolade became a US citizen Just five years before he decided to run for mayor as an independent, he faced white Republican Wayne Williams in a runoff election. announced In early April 2023, KKTV reported.
on November 6th indictment Just one day after the runoff election was announced, Derrick Bernard Jr., 35, Ashley Blackcloud, 40, and Deanna West, 38, were charged with a hate crime hoax by the U.S. District Court for Colorado. He was charged with conspiring to. .
Video obtained by KDRO13 shows the dramatic scene discovered at the intersection of Union and Fillmore streets. Mobolade's campaign signs featured the slur “n*gger” and a KKK-style burning cross.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado announced Tuesday. news release Bernard reportedly sent a message to the other defendants saying, “Move my team to your defense.'' Big brother of Black Ops style. ”
Other messages refer to the defendant's desire to prevent the “family” from gaining political control of the city, while others call the other defendants for details of the alleged plot. He instructed them to refrain from speaking.
In a message from Barnard to Blackcloud, the alleged orchestrator said he wanted to speak “in person” because he was “not on the phone about what's going to happen.”
Bernard, Blackcloud and West then worked together to “stage” the burning of the cross in the early morning hours of April 23, 2023, prosecutors said.
“The three are then suspected of disseminating false information about the event to various media outlets and civic groups through emails from anonymous sources,” the district attorney's office added.
The group then allegedly shot videos of the vandalized signs and crosses and anonymously sent them to news outlets using fake emails to report on the incident.
When police searched Black Cloud's car, investigators said they found a can of red spray paint similar to the paint used to write slurs on Mobolade campaign signs.
All three defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of maliciously passing false information regarding fire threats.
Bernard and Blackcloud were taken into custody without incident, but prosecutors announced Tuesday that West is a “fugitive.”
jefferson county jail record She was later arrested by U.S. Marshals and her arrest is shown Wednesday.
Mobolade, who ultimately defeated Williams to become mayor of Colorado Springs, has not yet commented on the allegations. It is unclear what kind of relationship he had with the defendant at the time.
