2 in Colorado Springs 'Hass Crime Hoax' Trial found guilty

Colorado Springs, Colorado (KKTV) – A federal jury has submitted a judgment in the trial for two people who are accused of staging what the US law firm describes as a “hate crushing swing”.

On Friday, Derrick Bernard Jr. and Ashley Blackcloud were found guilty of the conspiracy and maliciously convey incorrect information about a threat from fire. The jurors advise about 3 hours and 45 minutes before they were judged.

A photo circulated in April 2023 of a burning cross, which was placed in front of the then Mayoral candidate Yemi Mobolades campaign sign that contains a racist slur.

In November 2024, the federal prosecutor accused three suspects and said that they had roles in the staging of the scene to look like a hate crime in order to receive the support of Mobolade, Colorado Springs' first chosen black mayor.

Mobolade published an explanation in response to the culprit judgment:

The federal procedure for Bernard and Blackcloud started in Denver on Monday. The third suspect, Deanna West, said guilty of conveying false information in March.

West said in Bernard and Blackcloud's attempt and admitted to record the photo and video of the burning cross and the unkinding sign. During her certificate, West said that she had created a fake E -Mail address with which she sent a message to news agencies with these images, along with a message that seemed to be by a citizen after seeing the burning cross scene. West claimed that Bernard and Black could instruct them to take these steps and claim that none of these actions were their own idea.

Bernard took the booth on Thursday and informed the jurors that he had met Mobolade during his campaign and claimed that the candidate at the time knew about a plan to preserve “votes in favor”.

Bernard also serves a lifelong prison for a murder case from 2019. The public prosecutor pointed out that he said he had “nothing to lose” in terms of his testimony.

Mayor Mobolade said and said he thought the cross burning scene was a real threat and he had no role in planning. The mayor previously said that despite Bernard's claims, he had nothing to do with the incident.

In the case, the leading FBI agent said Mobalade made the jurors available in FBI interviews that were later shown as wrongly about his communication with Bernard.

As evidence, telephone records indicated that there was a six -minute call between Bernard and Mobolade after the Cross -Burning incident, but Mobolade initially informed the FBI that he was “120% safe” that he did not speak to Bernard after burning. Mobolade said in his testimony that he received hundreds of calls and news during this time in his campaign and described Bernard's communication as “cryptic”.

The FBI never came to the conclusion whether the mayor deliberately lied or whether he made an honest mistake by not remembering his interactions with Bernard, according to the FBI agent Doherty's testimony. Doherty also confirmed that the FBI received a search command for Mobolade's telephone and regarded it as a “subject in the exam” at one point. Court documents for the procedure refer to Mobolade as a victim.

In the event of closing arguments, both sides focused on whether the intersection scene was a real threat or not.

The prosecutors said because of the emotional testimony of Mayor Mobolade and said that he and his family thought it was a real threat to potential violence.

On the other hand, the defense said that the FBI knew from the start that this was staged by people who supported Mobolade, and described itself on the burning scene as “political theater” and a “political stunt” that did not rule out real potential for damage.

Defense lawyer refused to comment when they left the courthouse.

Copyright 2025 KKTV. All rights reserved.