A man who was accused of pouring beer on a group of Native American kids and telling them to “go back to the reservation” in January has been acquitted of disorderly conduct, according to reports.

Trace O’Connell, 41, of Philip, South Dakota, was charged with violating Rapid City’s municipal disorderly conduct ordinance, the Rapid City Journal reported, but on Tuesday Magistrate Judge Eric Strawn found O’Connell not guilty.

Trace O’Connell. Photo courtesy Rapid City Journal.

Even if O’Connell had been found guilty he would not have faced any time behind bars. In May, Strawn removed the possibility of jail.

On January 24, a group of 57 students, ages 9 to 13, from the American Horse K-8 school in Allen were sitting below a VIP suite during a Rapid City Rush Hockey Game at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center when an estimated 15 people in the suite, including O’Connell, began shouting racial slurs at the kids and proceeded to dump beer on them, witness and chaperone Justin Poor Bear said.

Poor Bear later wrote on his Facebook wall that the students were told to “go back to the reservation.” He told ABC News affiliate KOTA that he confronted the aggressors and they goaded him to enter the VIP section to “fight about it.”

Parents said for some of the kids it was their first experience going to a hockey game.

On Tuesday, Rapid City Attorney Joel Landeen issued a statement saying he is soured by Magistrate Strawn’s ruling.

“Obviously, we are disappointed in the decision. We felt all along the city had a strong case with enough evidence to move forward for conviction. The disorderly conduct charge was the strongest charge the city could bring. We worked with the facts we had and it was a challenging case to administer, with a variety of recollections and perceptions to share from numerous witnesses,” he wrote in a statement, according to the Rapid City Journal.

The incident in January set off a wave of protests and marches geared to raise awareness toward what activists in South Dakota say is a blatant culture of racism against Native Americans throughout the state. Following the incident at the civic center as well as the shooting and killing of Allen Locke, a Native American, by police, MTV World documented the watershed between the Native and non-Native communities in Rapid City for its “Rebel Music” series. 

Cody Hall, Cheyenne River Minnicoujou, who was featured in the series, told ICTMN on Tuesday that the Native community in South Dakota “knew the verdict would be ‘not guilty.’”

“The judge waited nearly five weeks to release this verdict. The judge set a precedent that the value and lives of our Lakota children are minimal in the eyes of the city of Rapid City and the state of South Dakota. The Governor, the Attorney General of South Dakota, the Mayor of Rapid City and the Rapid City Polic Chief do not value the life of the Lakota people. We here at NativeLivesMatter will continue to be positive but truthful for the lives of our kids and people. We will still seek justice.”

Less than two weeks after the racially charged incident with the American Horse students, a Native American woman who was at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center attending a rodeo was struck from behind after someone allegedly threw a beer at her.

RELATED: More Beer, More Racism at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center; Elders Become Latest Victims

The state’s decision regarding O’Connell is final and cannot be appealed, according to the Rapid City Journal.