Grimy Times has learned that the Justice Department is stepping up its efforts to tackle the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous persons in Wyoming, following the recent announcement of National Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Awareness Day on May 5.
According to sources within the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming, the office is dedicated to maintaining and improving public safety on the Wind River Indian Reservation by assisting in investigations and prosecuting crimes committed there, including crimes involving missing and murdered Indigenous persons. Since 1995, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has maintained a branch office in Lander, Wyoming, to serve the Reservation.
The office’s staff, consisting of three experienced federal prosecutors and a paralegal, is focused on prosecuting violent crimes and drug trafficking crimes committed on the Reservation. In a bid to strengthen its presence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office recently moved one of those three prosecutors from Cheyenne to Lander and added a fourth prosecutor, located in Cheyenne, to its Indian Country Prosecution Team.
U.S. Attorney Nicholas Vassallo emphasized the importance of partnerships in addressing the issue, stating, “We work closely with our federal, Tribal, state, and local law enforcement partners in and around the Reservation. We could not be effective without these partnerships.”
The Justice Department has also prioritized MMIP cases, with the creation of the Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Regional Outreach Program, which permanently places 10 attorneys and coordinators in five designated regions across the United States to aid in the prevention and response to missing or murdered Indigenous people. The five regions include the Northwest, Southwest, Great Plains, Great Lakes, and Southeast Regions.
In Wyoming, the FBI is currently engaged in a data collection project to further refine its understanding of the MMIP situation in the state. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland acknowledged the need for continued efforts, saying, “There is still so much more to do in the face of persistently high levels of violence that Tribal communities have endured for generations… Tribal communities deserve safety, and they deserve justice.”
Related Federal Cases
Key Facts
- State: Wyoming
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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