A black media personality was convicted last week of faking a hate crime against Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade to gin up votes for him, with the ringleader Derrick Bernard testifying that Mobolade was in on the hoax, and the FBI testifying that the mayor misled agents about his contact with Bernard.
Mobolade, who is Nigerian, won the election as a left-leaning independent in the traditional Republican stronghold in 2023 after the n-word was scrawled on one of his campaign signs and a cross set ablaze in front of it. Video of the scene was sent to the media, resulting in a swell of sympathy.
At the five-day trial in federal court for Bernard and his wife, Ashley Blackcloud, that concluded May 23, FBI agent Ethan Doherty testified that the mayor falsely denied contact with Bernard, despite records showing the pair was in contact before, the day of the hate crime, and afterward….
