Denver - Racial slander was swept over the black candidate's sign and caught fire in front of it in the 2023 advance in the Colorado Springs mayoral election.

Prosecutors say sympathy and support for the black candidate is a stunt, prosecutors said, but two people accused of being staged will be tried on Monday and are accused of posing a threat to him.

Mobolade, the city's first black mayor, plans to testify as a victim in the case, according to court documents.

However, one of the defendants claimed that Mobolade himself was a participant in the program to help him win. The defendant's lawyers said their so-called action was political theater - freedom of speech was protected constitutionally and not to cause harm.

"This is a scam in every way," defendant Ashley Blackcloud told the Associated Press. She said Mobolade knew in advance about their plans to burn the cross, but she would not comment further, citing a court order that discusses the information collected in the case before trial. Aboriginal and black black Mica says stunts aren't about hurting anyone.

Mobolade has previously denied any involvement. City spokesman Vanessa Zink said the mayor did not want to make other comments.

The second defendant - Black Cloud's husband Derrick Bernard - was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of ordering the killing of a rapper in Colorado Springs last year. The man was recently accused of murder and was recently acquitted and Bernard is appealing his conviction.

The messages left by BlackCloud's attorneys and Bernard's attorneys were not returned.

However, in the motion to dismiss the case, they pointed out that the cross caught fire in the middle of the night, except for the cross that the defendant obviously did not see.

However, they were accused of spreading information about it in emails sent to the media and other emails including live images.

They each are responsible for using interstate trade means (the Internet and email) to pose a threat and convey false information about attempts to intimidate animal groups with fire. They are also responsible for being part of the plot to do so. They plead not guilty.

According to the jury directed by the case, prosecutors must prove that Bernard and the Black Cloud intend to worry about the violence that would lead to their conviction, which was the intention of Bernard and the Black Cloud.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Regina M. Rodriguez ruled that the alleged lawsuit was not an action explicitly protected by the First Amendment, which would require her to dismiss the case.

“It depends on the jury to determine whether the cross burning is a real threat or simply a political speech,” she wrote.

Deanna West, a third person charged with pleading guilty in March, pleaded guilty in March as part of conspiracy to lay a fire and then spread false information about it, according to a plea agreement with prosecutors. Under the agreement, West's lawyers and government prosecutors agreed that the goal of the conspiracy was to interfere with Mobolade's opponent's movement and believed that dissuading Mobolade from running due to his race was discouraged.

West also plans to testify for the government.

According to the indictment, Bernard communicated with Mobolade before the cross burned on April 23, 2023, after Mobolade won the election on May 6, 2023.

About a week before the cross burned, Bernard told the then candidate in a Facebook message that he "mobilized my squadron on the defense and made the final push. BlackOps Style Big Brother. Klan couldn't run the city again."

Three days after the incident, they were on the phone for about five minutes.

Mobolade said in a video statement posted on social media in December that he has worked fully with the investigation and kept it true with law enforcement.

"I've worked completely together throughout the investigation. I don't know, warn or participate in this crime," he said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case, declined to comment on whether it questioned or investigated whether he was involved in the cross burning.