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Riverton Detox Center Shooter Sentenced

The man who shot two Northern Arapaho men inside a Riverton detox center last year has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. The victims’ families say they are still searching for justice and healing.

On Thursday, a judge sentenced 32-year-old Roy Clyde—a white city parks worker—to life in prison without parole for the murder of 29-year-old StalloneTrosper.

Stallone’s uncle, James Trosper, says his family has felt it important to turn to the values they’ve been taught as Native Americans.

“One of the values that we have is forgiveness,” says Trosper. “I think that we’ve found forgiveness in our hearts, even though it’s difficult. We’re in a place where we’ve turned it over the Creator, and we’re going to let him deal with it the way that he sees fit.”

Clyde received a second life sentence for the attempted murder of 50-year-old James “Sonny” Goggles. Both of the victims are members of the Northern Arapaho tribe. Their families and the Northern Arapaho Business Council have pushed for a federal hate crimes investigation into the attack.

James Trosper and family say they hope something positive can come from Stallone’s death—like community conversations about centuries-old prejudice. 

“That same prejudice that we believe killed Stallone still exists today,” says Trosper. “It’s what my mother experienced when she was a little girl and she would see those signs that said, ‘no Indians and no dogs allowed.’ It exists today. We can’t just leave it in the past and just forget about it. We need to work on it, so that we can get rid of the prejudice that exists and there can be an understanding between our communities.”

Several community meetings have been held in Riverton since the killings, to address racial tensions. Members of the community also organized a peace march.

Clyde pleaded guilty to the shootings in October to avoid the death penalty.

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