Colorado Springs Woman Sentenced to 12 Months, One Day, After Being Convicted On Charges Arising From Hate Crime Hoax

DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Ashley Blackcloud, 40, of Colorado Springs, was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison after a jury found her guilty in May 2025.  Blackcloud and co-defendant Derrick Bernard were convicted after a trial on charges that they conspired to threaten or convey false information about a threat: a burning cross placed in front of a Black political candidate’s campaign sign, which they had defaced with a racial slur written in red spray paint.  After staging the cross burning, Blackcloud, Bernard and a third convicted co-conspirator used email and social media to publicize the threat in the weeks before the Colorado Springs mayoral runoff election.

Evidence presented at the week-long trial showed that ten days before the cross burning, Bernard sent a message to the threatened candidate in which he explained he was “mobilizing my squad in defense.  Black ops style big brother” and then immediately texted Blackcloud, “I got a plan.” After the burning occurred in the early morning hours of April 23, 2023, Bernard and Blackcloud then worked together to send an email to the candidate, media outlets, and other local, state, and national organizations.  Attached to the email was a short video of the cross burning and a still photograph. The email falsely blamed the candidate’s political opponent for the crime.  The defendants then worked together to maliciously convey false information about the cross burning via social media platforms.

The conspiracy was uncovered when the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) gathered surveillance footage around the scene of the cross burning. The CSPD’s extensive review of the footage revealed three people prowling through the darkness between 2:30 and 3:30 in the morning to stage the crime.  Additional investigative work by the CSPD and exhaustive efforts by the FBI ultimately identified Bernard and Blackcloud, self-declared activists and social media personalities, as two of the culprits.

United States District Judge Regina M. Rodriguez presided over the sentencing of Blackcloud.

Sentencing for Derrick Bernard is scheduled for March 2026. 

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with substantial assistance from the Colorado Springs Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Bryan Fields and Candyce Cline.

CASE NUMBER:                 24-cr-00320-RMR