Defense presses Colorado Springs mayor on cross-burning 'hoax' involvement

DENVER (CN) — Late at night on Saturday, April 22, 2023, someone hammered a cross into the grass at an intersection in Colorado Springs and set it on fire. The blaze illuminated a sign for Yemi Mobolade’s mayoral campaign, which had been defaced with a racial epithet in red spray paint.

Mobolade, who is Black and registered as an Independent, faced white Republican Wayne Williams in a runoff election that year.

Spread across Facebook and reported on by local media, the image evoked the city’s history of having supported the Ku Klux Klan in the early 20th century, sparking new outrage and prompting an FBI investigation.

Instead of a racist hate crime, however, federal investigators would find the whole thing was a hoax designed to drive voters to turn out and push Mobolade into the lead.

For their alleged role in orchestrating the stunt, Derrick Bernard, 35, and Ashley Blackcloud, 40, are currently on trial in Denver, each facing one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and one count of interstate intimidation using fire. Combined, the crimes carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

Bernard’s attorney, Tyrone Glover, denies his client’s involvement. On behalf of Blackcloud, attorney Britt Cobb claims the political stunt was not a true threat and therefore protected by the First Amendment.

Joe Biden-appointed U.S. District Judge Regina Rodriguez denied dual motions to dismiss the charges on May 9, finding the question of whether the cross-burning constituted a true threat belonged to a jury.

A third person related to the case, Crystal West, pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiracy in March and has agreed to testify on behalf of the prosecution.

Cross-examined by defense attorneys on Tuesday, the mayor of Colorado Springs told the jury he had no involvement in staging the cross-burning and that he worked to bury the story as quickly as possible. Mobolade said he even talked organizers at the NAACP out of holding a protest.

“I don’t want a protest in my city, I don’t want people destroying things,” Mobolade said. “That’s not the story of Colorado Springs.”

Mobolade ultimately became the first Black mayor elected to serve Colorado Springs several weeks after the incident on May 16, 2023, with 57% of the vote.

During questioning, Glover implied Mobolade’s campaign had been struggling, exemplified by the fact that just one news outlet attended a January 2023 campaign event, four months before the election.

Downplaying the need for Bernard and his radio station, Family Flavors the Slide WBN, Mobolade said he built his own traction in the community at large and among Black voters by talking to everyone and accepting every invitation extended for an interview or debate.

Glover asked Mobolade why he publicly leaned into the theory that the cross-burning was a hoax if he had been privately worried. The stoic politician wiped tears from his eyes and answered in between deep breaths.

“Half of my job is to deescalate political tensions so we can work on real issues,” Mobolade said. “I keep my feelings private so I can lead with a calm, measured tone. This is why I ran for office.”

In the days following the incident, Mobolade and Bernard played phone tag before finally having a six-minute call on April 25. In text messages after, Mobolade thanked Bernard for being his eyes and ears — a comment the politician said only referred to the activist’s offer to help find information about the perpetrator.

Cobb questioned why Mobolade didn’t immediately offer to give the police his messages with Bernard, instead waiting until after the FBI asked for them. Trusting in the judicial process, the mayor said he was letting law enforcement take the lead.

Last December, after the U.S. Department of Justice announced a grand jury had indicted Bernard and Blackcloud on federal charges, Mobolade said he asked the government for guidance as media pounded him with questions. In response, U.S. Attorney Bryan Fields sent Mobolade a letter stating the government had closed its investigation on him.

Mobolade denied having been aware that the FBI was investigating him as a possible perpetrator, insisting he had only been told his rights as a victim in the case. Further, Mobolade said he cooperated with the FBI and trusted in their process, so he didn’t read too deeply into the letter.

Mobolade’s wife, Abbey, testified to the fear she felt for her husband and children when she saw the sign. Following the cross-burning, Abbey Mobolade told the jury she took the “death threat” seriously. She stopped letting her kids play outside and purchased a fire ladder to help them escape should someone set their house ablaze.

Glover asked when she learned the incident had been a hoax.

“I had no way of knowing it was a hoax,” she said. “That is not a subtle symbol. That, to me, to my family — that conveyed violence and a threat.”

The trial is scheduled to run through Friday at the Alfred Arraj U.S. Courthouse in downtown Denver.

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