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Colorado couple found guilty over hate crime hoax meant to draw sympathy for black candidate
AP via NYP ^ | 05 23 2025 | Staff

Posted on 05/29/2025 8:19:19 AM PDT by yesthatjallen

A Colorado couple who burned a cross in front of a black mayoral candidate’s campaign sign to generate voter sympathy was convicted Friday of conveying false information about a threat.

Prosecutors argued that although Ashley Blackcloud, who is indigenous and Black, and Derrick Bernard, who is Black, orchestrated and broadcast the hoax to aid the candidate, their actions still amounted to a criminal threat.

The cross burning happened in 2023 during the run-up to the mayoral election in Colorado Springs, the state’s second-largest city.

Images and video of the episode were emailed to local news outlets to boost the campaign of Yemi Mobolade, now the city’s first black mayor.

Blackcloud’s attorney did not deny in the trial this week that she participated in setting up the cross burning and defacing the sign.

Bernard denied participating but acknowledged during testimony that he disseminated the images even though he knew it was a hoax.

Because cross burning is protected by the First Amendment, the case came down to whether the act was a threat.

Prosecutors argued that even though Blackcloud’s and Bernard’s intention was to help Mobolade, he perceived the actions as a threat, with his family buying fire ladders and a medical trauma kit for their house.

SNIP

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: Colorado
KEYWORDS: colorado; coloradosprings; hatecrime; hoax; mayor; mobolade; nigerian; nigerianmayor; yemi; yemimobolade
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1 posted on 05/29/2025 8:19:19 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
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To: yesthatjallen

Isn’t it offensive that ‘ap’ failed to capitalize the “I” in indigenous but did capitalize the “B” in black. Asking for a friend. 🤔😂👍


2 posted on 05/29/2025 8:24:50 AM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from within? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this💩? 🚫💉! 🇮🇱👍!)
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To: yesthatjallen
who is indigenous and Black, and Derrick Bernard, who is Black...now the city’s first black mayor.

So which is it, AP? Always capitalize the word "black" or not? Better check today's style manual.

3 posted on 05/29/2025 8:26:08 AM PDT by Blennos ( Byaasearepeat itnbelow. SAMARIA )
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To: yesthatjallen
And people ask why I can not take any of these “hate hoaxs”, or the Grifting Groups warnings about "Nazi" or "KKK" people seriously.

Because, reality.

4 posted on 05/29/2025 8:28:28 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Not my circus. Not my monkeys. But I can pick out the clowns at 100 yards.)
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To: yesthatjallen

So that is how Colorado Springs, long the bastion of Rocky Mountain conservatism, home of the Focus on the Family, and the vanguard of the evangelical movement, ended up with a raucous, revolutionary liberal Nigerian mayor. Through brilliantly manipulated white guilt.


5 posted on 05/29/2025 8:34:15 AM PDT by nwrep
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To: yesthatjallen

Images and video of the episode were emailed to local news outlets to boost the campaign of Yemi Mobolade
__________________

Dems found yet another way to cheat in the elections!


6 posted on 05/29/2025 8:37:35 AM PDT by AZJeep (sane )
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To: yesthatjallen
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bryan Fields likened it to a student who "calls in a fake bomb threat at a school in order to avoid taking a test."

Blackcloud’s defense attorney, Britt Cobb, said the cross burning was merely “meant to be a political stunt, political theater" and “did not mean this as a real threat of violence,” Cobb said.

It is far worse than that, it was an attempt to smear Whites in Colorado Springs as racist and violent and to sway an election via fraud.

There should be heavy jail time for this.

7 posted on 05/29/2025 8:37:47 AM PDT by Bon of Babble (You Say You Want a Revolution?)
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To: nwrep

>> Through brilliantly manipulated white guilt.

And decades of Californication of all of Colorful Colorado.

But there is also a locus of Christian power in Colorado Springs, as you point out. It is an earthly proxy for the spiritual war in the heavenlies.


8 posted on 05/29/2025 8:39:06 AM PDT by Nervous Tick (Hope, as a righteous product of properly aligned Faith, IS in fact a strategy.)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; BraveMan; cardinal4; ...

9 posted on 05/29/2025 8:42:12 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (The moron troll Ted Holden believes that humans originated on Ganymede.)
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To: Nervous Tick
Indigenous and Black?

That's damn near a trifecta.

What about adding queer or trans?

10 posted on 05/29/2025 8:43:09 AM PDT by Wally_Kalbacken
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To: yesthatjallen

There SO MUCH RACISM in the US that they have to MAKE IT UP!!


11 posted on 05/29/2025 8:43:48 AM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion.....the HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience..H)
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To: Ann Archy

Actually theres a good bit of racism but not on the side being blamed.


12 posted on 05/29/2025 8:56:39 AM PDT by 556x45
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To: yesthatjallen
Prosecutors argued that although Ashley Blackcloud, who is indigenous and Black, and Derrick Bernard, who is Black, orchestrated and broadcast the hoax to aid the candidate, their actions still amounted to a criminal threat.

The cross burning happened in 2023 during the run-up to the mayoral election in Colorado Springs, the state’s second-largest city.

Hopefully the new FBI will start throwing the book at these types of cheats and thugs.

13 posted on 05/29/2025 9:09:11 AM PDT by GOPJ (What if stupidity isn’t about intelligence at all, but about surrendering the will to think?Bonhoeff)
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To: Blennos

Upper case B Black is supposed to be African-American, a recognized distinct cultural/ethnic group.

The mayor is a Nigerian-American, and lower case b black.

The writers were very precise and adhering to their guidelines.

Wait a generation and the Descendents of African Immigrants will be asked their capitalization preference.


14 posted on 05/29/2025 9:24:09 AM PDT by heartwood (Please blame all ridiculous or iinappropriate words on autocorrect. Thank you. )
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To: heartwood

Good grief! I cannot keep up. Wouldn’t it be easier to simply capitalize everything? Then there would be no unintentional slights against the grammatically preferred group.


15 posted on 05/29/2025 9:48:45 AM PDT by Blennos ( Byaasearepeat itnbelow. SAMARIA )
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To: rktman

Probably just a pretindian, but you can’t tell because of her melanin. Far too nany red-headed “Indians” out there.


16 posted on 05/29/2025 9:49:08 AM PDT by gundog (The ends justify the mean tweets. )
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To: Wally_Kalbacken

“Indigenous and Black?”

AND female!

There is your trifecta!


17 posted on 05/29/2025 10:05:32 AM PDT by spel_grammer_an_punct_polise (Learn three chords and you, too, can be a Rock Star!)
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To: Blennos

“Good grief! I cannot keep up. Wouldn’t it be easier to simply capitalize everything? Then there would be no unintentional slights against the grammatically preferred group.”

You are correct. However, knowing the communists, they would simply complain about, “Hey! You capitalized my group and we are offended! We demand that you change it to lowercase!”


18 posted on 05/29/2025 10:08:30 AM PDT by spel_grammer_an_punct_polise (Learn three chords and you, too, can be a Rock Star!)
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To: yesthatjallen

Looked up pics of them.

Wish I hadn’t.

Blechhh.


19 posted on 05/29/2025 10:27:22 AM PDT by simpson96
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To: Blennos

But not distinguishing certain groups by an honorific capitalization would be felt as a slight, like failing to salute an officer, or in the old days, not tipping a hat to a lady.


20 posted on 05/29/2025 10:38:41 AM PDT by heartwood (Please blame all ridiculous or iinappropriate words on autocorrect. Thank you. )
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