By Mackenzie Bodell | Denver Gazette
DENVER • The openly emotional mayor of Colorado Springs was asked to testify Tuesday about the details of his 2023 mayoral campaign season before and after a hate crime “hoax.”
In November, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Colorado announced that three individuals were indicted by a federal grand jury for “maliciously conveying false information about a threat made by means of fire” to draw support for the eventual mayoral race winner, Yemi Mobolade, who is Colorado Springs’ first elected Black mayor.
The indictment alleged the crew staged a hate crime by defacing one of Mobolade’s campaign signs with a racial slur and placing a small burning cross in front in the early hours of April 23, 2023. Videos and photographs of the incident were sent in a mass email to media outlets along the Front Range, calling the act “disgusting,” and insinuated Mobolade’s opponent, Wayne Williams, who is White, could be to blame because he was “pushing hard to win (the) candidacy.”
Tuesday marked the second day of trial for co-defendants Derrick Bernard Jr., 35, and Ashley Blackcloud, 40. The third suspect, Deanna West, 38, pleaded guilty in March and is set to testify on behalf of the prosecution ahead of her sentencing in September.
Mobolade began testimony Monday afternoon and spent several more hours Tuesday fielding questions from both sides before his wife took the stand.
Like Monday’s testimony, Yemi Mobolade once again appeared emotional on the stand. The prosecution questioned him about the mass email sent to both local and state media outlets, specifically about his initial reaction to seeing the attached video and photograph.
Mobolade testified he felt “scared” when he saw them. Despite the defendant’s claim the burning cross and defaced campaign sign were a “hoax,” Mobolade said, “it felt very real to my family and me.”
Before the April 2023 incident, Mobolade said his family had already taken extra security measures ahead of his campaign for mayor. One of those measures included changing the locks on their house.
“I knew when my family and I put ourselves out there … we didn’t know what the future would be,” Mobolade said.
The morning Mobolade became aware of the mass email, he testified he was “pacing around the house,” anxious to tell his wife because “this was one of her biggest fears.”
The Colorado Springs mayor testified he tried to keep the story under wraps at the time, saying he “didn’t want that to be the story of Colorado Springs.” While he put on a “brave face” for the public, on the inside, he was scared, Mobolade testified while wiping tears from his face, his breath shaky.
His emotions continued to run high when talking about how he had to show his parents and siblings the video and photo of the defaced sign and burning cross.
Mobolade came under fire during cross-examination. Blackcloud’s attorney, Britt Morton Cobb, questioned the Colorado Springs mayor heavily about a five-minute phone call that occurred between Bernard and Mobolade just days after the news of the hoax broke.
Mobolade testified he could not remember exactly what the phone call was about, saying it may have been about the burning cross incident or simply about the campaign. He added that Bernard did not inform Mobolade at the time he was involved with the hate crime “hoax,” or that he wanted any favors. Mobolade said he would have reported Bernard to the police “immediately” had he done so.
Later in his testimony, Mobolade was asked about his interview with the FBI conducted nearly a year afterward. Cobb alleged Mobolade told the FBI that he was “120% sure the phone call never happened.” Mobolade did not remember saying that until Cobb had him reference the interview report completed by the federal agency.
“At the time I was confident,” Mobolade stated.
Mobolade appeared flustered as he fielded questions from the defense about the timeline of events and specific details about his communication with Bernard. He often was not able to provide an answer when questioned by the defense, claiming the details were “fuzzy” because his campaign season was “a blur.” Mobolade emphasized he was talking to “hundreds” of people during that time, and Bernard was simply a member of the media to him.
Bernard was a “media personality” who ran a radio show station — “Family Flavors The Slide World Broadcasting Network,” or “The Slide.”
Cobb also questioned Mobolade on a few texts he sent Bernard in the weeks leading up to the incident. Mobolade allegedly asked Bernard to “help me get to the finish line.” When asked about the texts, Mobolade elaborated on the full context, saying it was something he sent to all his supporters and was not a direct call to action. Bernard sent “I guarantee the finish” the day the mass email containing photos and video of the burning cross went out, but Mobolade said he did not know what that initially meant.
During opening arguments, the defense claimed Mobolade was under criminal investigation for his suspected involvement with the “hoax.” On Tuesday, Cobb introduced a letter from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in which the agency stated it had closed an investigation into Mobolade.
Mobolade said he read this document as a legal document, nothing more.
“I didn’t read this as I was a suspect,” Mobolade said. “I read this as ‘They had to do their job.'”
Mobolade added that several legal documents identified him as a victim, offering him resources as he navigated everything. He testified that he was never worried he did anything wrong leading up to the April 2023 incident.
After three hours of testimony, Mobolade walked out of the courtroom visibly shaken, while his wife, Abbey Mobolade, walked in for a relatively short testimony.
Abbey Mobolade said she took the defaced sign and burning cross as a “death threat,” which made her husband fearful for his life.
“It is not often my husband is at a loss for words,” Abbey Mobolade said.