VIDEO: Native American Walks "Off Trail" Park Ranger Tases Him

By Wilson Wong, Rima Abdelkader and Ali Gostanian, NBC News

31 December 20

A park ranger stunned Darrell House, who is Oneida and Navajo, after he stepped off a trail while on a walk at Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque.

park ranger was seen on video using a stun gun on a Native American man who was walking his dog with his sister at a national monument in New Mexico on Sunday.

The man, Darrell House, who is Oneida and Navajo, said he went for a stroll with his sister and his dog Sunday afternoon at Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, where, he said, he often prays and meditates in honor of the land and his ancestors.

House said he stepped off the trail to maintain social distancing from an approaching group of hikers when a park ranger ran behind him and warned him to stay on the path.

The National Park Service released on Tuesday a 10-minute long recording from the officer’s body camera. It appeared to show the park ranger, who has not yet been publicly identified, asking House for his identification multiple times. House initially refused to provide ID before giving a false identity and date of birth, the video shows.

The officer can be seen warning the man that he would be detained if he did not ID himself.

"I didn't see a reason to give my identification. I don't need to tell people why I'm coming there to pray and give things in honor to the land. I don't need permission or consent," House said. "And I don't think he liked that very much."

Tensions escalated, with the ranger seen in another video his sister recorded repeatedly stunning House to the ground while he cries for help.

In the video, House's sister can be heard pleading for the ranger to stop.

"I don't have anything," House says between screams. "I apologize for going off the trail."

The ranger, who has not been publicly identified, directs House to sit on the ground as he appears to drag the dog by the leash toward House's sister.

"You're being detained because you refused to identify yourself," the ranger says. "If you resist, I will Tase you."

Another officer can be seen handcuffing House before the video cuts out.

NBC News does not know what happened before or after what's shown in House’s sister video and the National Park Services’ video, and the identities of the rangers in the video have not been confirmed.

The National Park Service said on Tuesday the agency is investigating.

“Prior to the officer using his electronic control device, or taser, the officer attempted to resolve the interaction with an educational contact and simple warning,” the agency said in a statement. “During this initial interaction, both individuals provided fake names and dates of birth to the officer.”

A spokesperson for the National Park Service previously told NBC News in an email on Monday that all park officers complete extensive law enforcement training and are required to undergo special training to carry stun guns.

The National Park Service said House was ticketed for three citations: “being in a closed area off trail, providing false identity information, and failing to comply with a lawful order.” House’s sister was also cited for providing false information and being off trail, according to the agency.

House, who had grown up on a reservation, said he has never run into an issue or encountered a ranger on the hiking trail, where he will often perform his rituals, like offering tobacco and stirring sage.

"We don't have a set time, we don't have set places, we don't have buildings, and we don't have things built to worship," House said. "Nature is what we've been worshipping ... and protecting it has always been our job."

"I am Native, you know. I have rights to this land. I have rights off the trail," he said.