Alleged staging of hate crime hoax during Colorado Springs city election results in federal indictment

Three people have been indicted on federal charges for allegedly staging a hate crime hoax before the Colorado Springs mayoral runoff election last year, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced on Tuesday. Two are in custody and one is a fugitive.

The federal indictment follows a lengthy investigation by the FBI and Colorado Springs police into an incident on April 23, 2023, plus a series of actions after it.

On that day in April, the three people allegedly set a wooden cross on fire in front of a campaign sign for a Black mayoral candidate that was defaced with a racial slur. The slur was apparently written on the sign by the indicted individuals because the U.S. Attorney's Office wrote in their indictment that spray paint was found in the car of one of them.

"The three then allegedly spread false information about the event through an email from an anonymous source to various news and civic organizations," the U.S. Attorney's Office wrote.

The goal, according to the indictment, was to spread disinformation that there was a vile group of racists who were strongly opposed to the Black mayor candidate and they were trying to intimidate him.

The following three people have been indicted:

Derrick Bernard Jr., 35
Ashely Blackcloud, 40
Deanna West, 38

On Tuesday Blackcloud made her initial appearance before a federal judge in Denver. Bernard will be making his initial appearance in court soon. West is the fugitive.

Bernard, who goes by the nickname "Phoenixx Ugrilla," appears to have been the originator of the plan, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Before that April day he sent messages to the others saying the following:

I'm mobilizing my squadron in defense and for the final push. Black ops style big brother.

He also said that he was trying to "prevent 'the klan' from gaining political control of the city," the news release stated.