RIVERTON — Resistance from the county’s top prosecutor and, possibly, law enforcement entities to the public inquest into the Sept. 21 shooting death of Anderson Antelope by a Riverton Police Department officer stems in part from the vulnerability of eyewitnesses, Fremont County Attorney Patrick LeBrun said Thursday.
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RIVERTON — Resistance from the county’s top prosecutor and, possibly, law enforcement entities to the public inquest into the Sept. 21 shooting death of Anderson Antelope by a Riverton Police Department officer stems in part from the vulnerability of eyewitnesses, Fremont County Attorney Patrick LeBrun said Thursday.
Fremont County Coroner Mark Stratmoen announced Thursday that he is suspending the public inquest into the fatality.
An American Indian man who witnessed the struggle and the shooting culminating in Antelope’s death in front of Walmart in Riverton asked the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation to uphold his anonymity, due to the “racial issues” associated with the shooting.
LeBrun shared with The Ranger a portion of the DCI-recorded interview with the eyewitness, in which the man stated, “I do have a concern. Due to the publicity of this, you know, the whole racial issue that people are claiming, I don’t want to be named.
“I live on the (Wind River Indian) Reservation. I got kids in school. I’ve got young kids, and I don’t want, you know, anybody coming to my house, or people saying, ‘Hey, you’re the one that told the cops this.’ So, I hope that my name doesn’t ever go public.” Speaking over the recording, LeBrun clarified that the witness is “a well-known tribal member.”
DCI agent Ryan Wangberg conducted the interview with the witness at about 10:25 a.m. Sept. 22 – less than one day after Antelope’s death.
Wangberg noted in the recording that the witness wished to remain anonymous, then asked him to recount the incident “from beginning to end.”
“It is really unfortunate for all people – all involved,” the witness said. “We had just come out of Walmart. We saw the veterans selling (food) over there. I actually went to go see what they were selling. They had some tables there. We went to look at their menu.”
Walking toward tables that had been arranged for a Veteran’s Hall fundraising cookout, the witness said he saw a man sitting at the end of one of the tables, facing north.
“About that time is when the officer had walked up to the man sitting there, and I was talking to my (family). And (the officer) walked up and he told that man, he said, ‘Hey, you got to go’ – and kind of tapped him on the shoulder,” the witness said.
The witness said he told his family he was going to give the veterans a donation.
“So I walked up to the man that was selling the food and I gave them a donation, and I said, ‘Thank you for your service,’” he said.