The National Park Service (NPS) said it was investigating after it recently went viral for footage showing a ranger using a stun gun against a Native American who left the trail while at a national monument in New Mexico.
In an Instagram post this week, the man, identified by NBC News as Darrell House, said he recently visited the Petroglyph National Monument to “pray and speak” with his “ancestral Pueblo relatives”. House said that he is Navajo and Oneida, but that he honors the land.
House, who says he is with his sister and dog, said he left the trail briefly to practice social detachment amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to NBC News. That was when he was confronted by a ranger, House said.
The NPS released on Tuesday night images of the interaction captured by the policeman’s body camera.
In the footage, the police officer is seen asking House and his sister for identification. House responds by saying that he doesn’t want to identify himself. Later in the shoot, House and his sister can be seen supplying the police officer with what the NPS later said were “false names and birth dates”.
“You don’t need my ID, sir,” House says to the ranger at one point.
“So this is a law enforcement action and I need to identify you, sir,” the ranger replies.
“Native Americans, the government and the law don’t mix well, you know that. We’ve had our differences before … You are in our land, ”replies House.
Later in the shoot, House can be seen walking away before saying that they were back on track.
The situation then worsens after the ranger warns House that he will be detained until he can identify him.
He then tells House to give his dog to his sister. House refuses and picks up the dog. Moments later, the ranger uses a stun gun on House after House screams for help.
The ranger can be seen repeatedly using the device in House in the clip, telling him to show his hands. Sometimes, House can be seen with his hands up, screaming on the floor.
After that, the ranger tries to handcuff House. Another ranger eventually handcuffs House later in the clip, after the man turns away from the first officer and asks for help.
House said on social media that the interaction amounted to an abuse of power by the first ranger and said the incident was “unnecessary”.
“Both men pulled tasers at me after the first 1 failed to hold me back. This could have been a civil interaction. The law does not work for indigenous people, ”he wrote on Instagram.
House received quotes for being in an enclosed area off the monument’s trails, providing false information and failing to comply with a legal order, the park agency said Tuesday night. Her sister also received quotes for providing false information and being in an enclosed area with no tracks.
An NPS spokesman said in a statement to The Hill that the incident “is under review and has been referred to the NPS Office of Professional Responsibility, our internal affairs unit, for a full investigation.”
She added that NPS officers “complete extensive law enforcement training programs along with many other federal law enforcement agencies” and are “required to undergo initial and continuous specialized training to carry” paralyzing weapons.
“We take any allegations of wrongdoing very seriously and we thank the public for their patience while we collect the facts of this incident,” she said.
Updated at 11:40 PM