COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade told jurors Tuesday he could not recall the exact details of a phone call between himself and one of the suspects in a hate crime hoax investigators say happened leading up to the 2023 Colorado Springs Mayoral runoff election.
Both the prosecution and the defense asked Mobolade about what he and Derrick Bernard, one of two suspects in the case on trial, spoke about in the days after the initial incident.
Investigators say Bernard and Ashley Blackcloud worked with Deanna West, who pleaded guilty in the case earlier this year, to stage a hate crime leading up to the mayoral runoff election in 2023. Investigators say the trio placed a burning cross in front of one of Mobolade’s campaign signs with a racial slur spray painted on the sign and recorded a video of the burning cross.
The video was shared with media outlets and public officials.
The mayor continued his testimony for jurors Tuesday morning speaking about the impact the incident had on himself and his family during the course of his campaign. A key focus of Tuesday’s testimony dealt with Mobolade’s interactions with Bernard over social media, text, and a phone call phone records showed happened three days after the video was shared.
“I don’t remember the details, it may have been the incident, it may have been the campaign,” Mobolade said in relation to what he spoke about with Bernard during that six-minute phone call.
Mobolade said when he learned of the incident he was not hoping for the media to pick it up. Mobolade said he worried about protests and riots in Colorado Springs. At one point during his testimony, he said he told Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez “I don’t want to make a big deal about of this”
Communication between Mobolade and Bernard was shown to jurors, some of which had previously been shown or mentioned in an indictment of the trio, including a message sent to Mobolade that said “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.”
Mobolade said he did not know what Bernard meant by that message and said communication with Bernard is sometimes hard to understand.
Defense attorneys also brought up Mobolade’s conversations with the FBI during the course of this investigation.
The defense said during one of three interviews in 2024, Mobolade said he was “120% sure” he did not have a phone call with Bernard. Defense attorneys showed Mobolade a transcription of that FBI report.
Defense attorneys also focused on a letter Mobolade received from the U.S. Attorney’s Office that said Mobolade’s “conduct was within the scope of this duly authorized investigation” and that “[the] letter should not be interpreted as exoneration for a “clean bill of health”.
Mobolade said he had several letters that identified him as a victim in the case, and he did not interpret the letter as he had been investigated for his participation in a crime.
Mobolade’s wife, Abbey also took the witness stand Tuesday and recounted the days after the incident saying he was “distraught” and “in distress”. Abbey Mobolade was tearful as she said she was scared for her family and called the image “disturbing”.
Both the mayor and his wife said they made various security adjustments after the incident and did not allow their kids to play outside for fear of their safety.
Multiple others testified Tuesday during the trial, including a CSPD intelligence detective who executed a search warrant at Blackcloud’s home. She detailed clothes she took from the home as well as spray paint, wood, and lighter fluid.
An investigator with Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also walked through his investigation of extracting data from phones, including a Facebook message sent by Bernard to Mobolade. Another CBI investigator spoke to his involvement in surveillance of Bernard during the investigation.
Jurors also heard from FBI experts who are forensic examiners for paint, fire, and DNA analysis.
The DNA analysis expert said there were DNA samples that matched Deanna West on some of the wood from the scene sent to the lab and Blackcloud’s DNA was present on a can of spray paint.
The trial will continue Wednesday morning, where West is expected to testify.
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