Colorado Springs mayor who lied about hate crime hoax to aid campaign not prosecuted for racial reasons: report

The mayor of Colorado Springs, who was referred for prosecution by the FBI for making false statements related to a hate crime hoax, will not be investigated by the Department of Justice for "racial and political reasons," the Daily Wire reports.

Acting US Attorney for the District of Colorado Matt Kirsch said that three of Mayor Yemi Mobolade’s supporters were charged with writing the N-word on one of his campaign signs, setting a cross on fire in front of it, and sending video of the fake hate crime to news media in an effort to increase black voter turnout. Mobolade, a black African immigrant, went on to defeat the Republican candidate Wayne Williams by nearly 12,000 votes—winning 57.5 percent to Williams’ 42.5 percent.

Investigators obtained communications showing that Mobolade was in close contact with lead suspect Derrick Bernard prior to, on the day of, and after the incident. Mobolade was interviewed twice by the FBI. He denied any contact with Bernard, an FBI official told the Daily Wire.

Dozens of messages were sent between Bernard and Mobolade, the official said, adding that Mobolade was reportedly scrolling through his phone to help his memory during the interview but "was literally skipping over text messages," not realizing that the bureau had already received them.

The suspect Bernard is a career criminal who previously served a 32-month prison sentence in 2018. He has since been convicted of an unrelated murder of a rapper.

Mobolade was referred to the Department of Justice to face charges for making false statements, yet the department refused.

"The initial response from the Department of Justice was, ‘We can’t indict the first black mayor of Colorado Springs,’” the official said, adding, "In my experience, if anyone had been in that position, they would have been charged with lying to a federal agent."

Mobolade was instead made to do a third interview: "During that interview, most of his answers consisted of ‘I do not recall.’ This was contrary to his interview answers from the previous two interviews, where he denied involvement very strongly," the official said. The DOJ then told the FBI it would not charge him with making false statements.

Acting US Attorney for Colorado Matt Kirsch issued a press release that day which inaccurately described the role of the candidate in the case. The release claimed that Bernard had sent a message "to the other defendants" stating he was “mobilizing my squad” for “black ops.”

However, the indictment clarifies that the message in question was actually directed to the now-mayor and not to the two others who were convicted, Ashley Blackcloud, 40, and Deanna West, 38. In the same message, Bernard also informed Mobolade, "I spoke with some of my friends in other places and theirs [sic] a plot amidst."

This discrepancy has raised questions about the accuracy of the government’s narrative and its portrayal of Bernard’s involvement.

The US Attorney’s Office for Colorado declined to comment to the Daily Wire on allegations that it rejected an FBI criminal referral for false statements and included a false statement in its press release. Instead, it reportedly stealth-edited the release to remove the phrase “to the other defendants.”

On November 13, Mayor Mobolade contacted the Justice Department after the Daily Wire inquired about his communications with Bernard, asking for a second press release stating he was not a subject of the investigation, the official said. While the Justice Department initially considered the request, the FBI opposed it, noting that Mobolade was still on their radar. Officials expressed concern that prematurely exonerating Mobolade could disrupt ongoing plea deals with other defendants.