Mayor Yemi Mobolade and wife take the stand in Colorado Springs ‘hate crime hoax’ case
Celeste Springer
DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) – Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade and wife, Abbey Mobolade, took the stand in a Denver federal courthouse on Tuesday.
The two were called to testify in the case against Derrick Bernard Jr. and Ashley Blackcloud. Their codefendant Deanna West has already pleaded guilty to her part in the alleged conspiracy.
Bernard Jr., Blackcloud, and West were accused of allegedly staging a hate crime. Bernard and Blackcloud claim that they did so to garner sympathy and win the mayoral election for Mobolade, who was a Black candidate facing off against a white opponent. Barnard, Blackcloud, and West were accused of staging a cross burning with the “n-word.”
Prosecutors will need to show that there was a “true threat” in the alleged plot, which would ensure that the reported stunt would not fall under protected speech.
Court documents revealed messages sent between Mobolade and Bernard in the days before the alleged hoax, as well as a five-minute phone call just days after the incident. Mayor Mobolade has maintained throughout the course of the investigation that he did not have knowledge of– or communicate with the defendants about– the alleged plot.
The big question following Monday’s proceedings is what Mayor Mobolade’s knowledge was of the alleged conspiracy, if any at all.
Ashley Blackcloud told the Associated Press that Mobolade knew in advance about the plans and was a willing participant. Of note, however, is that Blackcloud has something to gain by saying so. Alleging that Mobolade knew about the plans can help lay the groundwork for a defense that there was never a “true threat.”
In court on Tuesday, information came to light that Mayor Mobolade reportedly waited a day to contact police about the cross-burning video.
Initially, Mobolade and members of his campaign talked about how it could have been staged, and some members even said that they were 99% sure it was not real, according to an attorney representing the defense. Mobolade affirmed this in court.
Mobolade even suggested that it could have been set up by a Black person. Defendants Derrick Bernard and Ashley Blackcloud are both black; Blackcloud is also indigenous.
Yemi Mobolade and wife, Abbey Mobolade, talked about how this affected them emotionally, and the fact that they had a set of extra security measures at their house. They said they even bought a fire ladder to set up inside their children’s bedrooms in case their house was set on fire. Both were very emotional on the stand on Tuesday.
“It felt very real. Very real to my family,” said Mayor Mobolade. “The morning I received this (video), I remember pacing the house, afraid to tell my wife.”
It was also discussed in court that even after Bernard was named a suspect in the case, Mobolade did not tell the detective assigned to the case, nor did he tell the FBI, about his contacts with Bernard.
He said that he was waiting for them to take the lead investigation by asking questions.