Colorado Springs woman gets year in prison for racism hoax before local election
A 40-year-old Colorado Springs woman received a 12-month, one-day federal prison sentence Thursday for her role in staging a hate crime in the weeks leading up to a run-off election in the 2023 mayor's race.
The election featured one Black candidate, Yemi Mobolade, and a white candidate, Wayne W. Williams.
On April 23, 2023, three weeks before votes were counted, Colorado Springs police investigated a purported hate crime in which a campaign sign supporting Mobolade was defaced with a racial epithet. A cross was also placed in front of the sign, located at the busy intersection of North Union Boulevard and East Fillmore Street, and was set on fire.
A short cell phone video of the scene was sent via email to news organizations and received publicity through some of the resulting stories.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation then joined the Colorado Springs Police Department's examination of the incident. The agencies discovered surveillance camera images showing three people setting up the scene between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m. that morning, according to court documents. The email account from which the video was sent was created later that day.
Eventually, social media exchanges between the suspects were obtained by investigators. They revealed a conspiracy to stage the scene in an attempt to sway public sentiment against one of the candidates.
Ashley Blackcloud, Derrick Bernard, and Deanna West were indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2024. Blackcloud and Bernard were convicted in May 2025 of conspiring to threaten or convey false information about a threat. Burning a cross is considered a matter of free speech and is protected by the First Amendment, unless it is provably used to intimidate or convey a threat.
The email sent to news outlets falsely blamed Mobolade's opponent, Williams, for the crime, according to federal prosecutors.
The FBI investigation called Blackcloud and Bernard "self-declared activists and social media personalities."
Blackcloud was sentenced Thursday, moments after U.S. District Court Judge Regina M. Rodriguez denied Blackcloud's request for a reversal of the verdict or new trial.
Bernard is scheduled for sentencing in March. Last week, his request for a new lawyer was denied.
West was sentenced in September 2025 to three years of probation.
The FBI investigation concluded Mobolade was not involved with the crime. During the trial, Blackcloud and Bernard's attorney attempted to implicate Mobolade, citing messages and conversations between he and Bernard. In of those messages, Bernard wrote to the candidate, "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," as stated in the indictment.
Mobolade testified during the trial and strongly denied any involvement. He won 57% of the votes cast in the run-off election to become the first Black mayor of Colorado Springs.