Charges Filed Against Three People Over Mayoral Election Hate Crime Hoax

Three people from Colorado Springs are facing federal charges after investigators say they staged a hate crime hoax leading up to the 2023 Mayoral runoff election.

The video, which was shared with local media outlets including News5, depicts a wooden cross being burned with a racial slur spray painted on a campaign sign for then-candidate Yemi Mobolade.

BREAKING: Colorado AG indicted 3 people for staging a fake racial hate crime in 2023 in which they defaced a campaign sign for then Colorado Springs Mayoral candidate Yemi Mobolade, who is Black.

The hoaxers reportedly claimed in text messages that they carried out the hoax in… pic.twitter.com/l3qovXQywE

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 14, 2024

Derrick Bernard Jr., Ashley Blackcloud, and Deanna West are facing two charges each: Conspiracy to defraud the United States and for using fire to intimidate.

In the indictment, it says the trio was affiliated with a local non-profit called “Family Flavors the Slide WBN” which “marketed itself as a minority owned independent broadcasting and multi-media organization.”

Bernard is listed as the registered agent for the group, according to documents from the Colorado Secretary of State. Our news partners at The Gazette recently covered a trial involving Bernard where he faced charges that he ordered the murder of a local rapper. {snip}

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The indictment says one of the suspects, Bernard, messaged Mobolade on social media, sent him text messages, and spoke to him on the phone for five minutes.

In the message sent to Mobolade on social media the indictment says he is “mobilizing his squadron”. {snip}

“{snip} 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.”

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