Mayor Cries Victim After Fake Hate Crime

Two days ago, on November 27th, the Mayor finally released a second statement about the hate crime HOAX which occurred during the 2023 Mayoral runoff election.  A Gazette reporter sent his statement to me for comment.  The Mayor’s full statement is:

“My family and I are victims of a hate crime, allegedly committed by three suspects against our city.  I had no knowledge, warning, or involvement in this reprehensible act.  It is unfortunately not a new trend that politically motivated websites will weigh in with no regard for accuracy or truth, and interest only in sensationalism and scandal.  I fully cooperated in the investigation, and it is important that the judicial process is followed to allow for a successful prosecution that brings justice for our community.” 

My response to the Gazette was: 

“No one has been charged with an actual hate crime.  Instead, three suspects have been charged with a hate crime HOAX – from which the Mayor was intended to benefit. 

I appreciate the updated statement. However, it does not clarify whether he was interviewed by the FBI twice and “explicitly and strenuously denied contact with Bernard” as alleged in the Daily Wire article.  That is what I have called on the Mayor to address.

We know, based on the indictment of the three suspects in the hate crime HOAX, that the Mayor WAS in contact with Bernard (one of the suspects, and convicted just weeks ago of murder) before, after, and on the day of the HOAX. 

Stating that he “fully cooperated” in the investigations is not the same thing as denying the accusations in the article. 

I continue to call on the Mayor to directly address what is alleged in the article — that he denied contact with Bernard during his first two interviews with the FBI.”

I wish the Gazette had printed the Mayor’s full statement, and my response, in their front page article titled “Mayor ‘fully cooperated’ with the investigation”.  In fact, the first sentence of the Mayor’s statement was completely left out of the article.  That is the most newsworthy sentence in the statement.

Why is the Mayor still claiming he is the “victim of a hate crime”?  There was no hate crime!    There was a hate crime HOAX, and the real victims were the citizens of Colorado Springs who were misled, and his opponent, whose chances to win the election were unfairly damaged. 

It is concerning that our Mayor is willing to be so loose with the facts that he is still claiming that he was the victim of a hate crime when there is a federal indictment of three suspects demonstrating that it was a hoax. 

That is why I ask the Mayor to specifically address the question of whether he had two initial interviews with the FBI during which he denied being in contact with Derrick Bernard.  Nonspecific statements that “he fully cooperated with the investigation” may only mean that he sat down for the interviews. 

We know, without a doubt, that then-candidate Mobolade WAS in contact with Bernard.  The grand jury indictment includes multiple text messages from Bernard to Mobolade.  Quoting from the indictment “On or about April 23, 2023, at approximately 7:30 p.m., Bernard texted Mobolade: ‘I guarantee the finish’ in response to a message about needing support to get to the ‘finish line’ of the mayoral election.”  This was the day of the HOAX. 

Also from the indictment “On or about April 26, 2023, at approximately 10:55 p.m., BERNARD spoke with Mobolade for approximately 5 minutes via telephone.” 

This was three days after the hoax, and as news coverage of it had significantly increased.  What were they discussing?

The citizens of Colorado Springs deserve a straight answer as to whether their Mayor lied to the FBI.