A Colorado Springs man who helped stage a racially charged cross-burning scene in the middle of a heated mayoral race is headed to federal prison. On Wednesday, a federal judge sentenced Derrick Bernard to 46 months behind bars for his role in what prosecutors say was a calculated hoax meant to boost the candidacy of Colorado Springs’ first Black mayor.
The plot centered on a burning cross placed in front of a campaign sign that had been defaced with a racial slur, with images and video quickly circulated to local media outlets and civic groups in the frantic weeks before the 2023 mayoral runoff. Bernard and his co-defendant, Ashley Blackcloud, were found guilty after a weeklong federal trial that wrapped up last year.
Sentence Handed Down In Denver Federal Court
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, Bernard, 36, received a 46-month federal prison term, followed by three years of supervised release and a $200 special assessment. U.S. District Judge Regina M. Rodriguez imposed the sentence in Denver on Wednesday.
The cross burning took place on April 23, 2023, roughly three weeks before voters headed back to the polls for the runoff election, a moment when tensions and campaign messaging were already running hot.
What The Jury Decided
Jurors in Denver convicted Bernard and Blackcloud of conspiring to threaten or to convey false information about a threat, a verdict that prosecutors say confirms the stunt was aimed at swaying the election, according to reporting by KRDO.
Prosecutors presented evidence that a campaign sign for candidate Yemi Mobolade had been defaced with a racial slur and that a burning cross was then positioned in front of it. Defense attorneys tried to cast at least some of the conduct as extreme political theater. The jury, however, decided the pair had moved past protest and into criminal territory.
How Investigators Say The Plot Unfolded
At trial, prosecutors leaned heavily on digital breadcrumbs. They introduced text messages, the government says, showing Bernard telling others he was “mobilizing my squad” and declaring he “got a plan,” before sending an email that included a short video and a still photograph of the burning cross, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.
Surveillance footage gathered by the Colorado Springs Police Department, along with follow-up work by the FBI, reportedly showed three people moving around the area in the early morning hours, which investigators say helped them zero in on the suspects. A third person charged in the scheme later pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors, as reported by The Associated Press.
Mayor’s Testimony And Local Fallout
During the trial, now-mayor Yemi Mobolade took the stand and described the emotional toll the episode took on his family and on Colorado Springs as a whole. Prosecutors argued that the hoax harmed Mobolade personally and warped the narrative of the election, according to KRDO.
The proceedings also dug into communications between Bernard and Mobolade before and after the incident. Mobolade has flatly denied any involvement in the scheme. Prosecutors say Bernard and Blackcloud used email and social media to spread images of the staged cross burning so it would land as a genuine threat, not a manufactured spectacle.
Where The First Amendment Stops
Cross burning can, in some contexts, fall under protected speech, so prosecutors and the court focused on whether this particular act counted as a “true threat” rather than an expression shielded by the First Amendment. That framing was highlighted in national coverage by The Associated Press.
The Associated Press also reported that Bernard had already been sentenced in state court in 2024 to life in prison in a separate murder case. Blackcloud, meanwhile, received a federal sentence of a year and a day earlier this year and is appealing her conviction and sentence.
Prosecutors argued that once the pair used interstate communications to blast out the staged event, what might have been pitched as a political stunt became a criminal scheme with concrete consequences for the victim and the voters watching it all unfold.
