National Park Service releases video of ranger tasing visitor in N.M.
ALBUQUERQUE — A man who was tased during a confrontation with a ranger at a national monument in Albuquerque was seen off the trails, climbing on and among petroglyph cliff features in violation of park regulations, according to the National Park Service.
The federal agency late Tuesday released more details and video of the interaction between the ranger and Darrell House, saying an investigation is ongoing.
The video shows the ranger telling House that Native American tribes from the area consider Petroglyph National Monument sacred and that visitors are supposed to stay on the designated trails to preserve cultural resources and desert vegetation. The video also shows House, who identifies himself as Navajo and Oneida, giving the ranger a fake name and trying to walk away.
Video taken by House shows the ranger asking for his identification. House tells the ranger he is back on the trail and doesn’t need to provide his ID.
The ranger tells House he is refusing a lawful order and has to be detained until he can be identified. House again walks away as the ranger tells him to stop. House picks up his dog in one hand and lifts up his cellphone in the other and begins yelling for help as he is tased.
Video posted by House on social media shows him screaming and rolling on the ground. The ranger repeatedly asks for him to put his hands behind his back as House raises his hands and at times folds them in front of his chest while still calling for help.
House was cited for interfering with agency functions, concealing his identity and being off the trails. House did not return messages from the Associated Press. In social media posts, he said he goes to the monument to pray and meditate.
The case has been referred to the National Park Service’s internal affairs unit. The investigation will include a review of the body camera video and the video posted on social media, as well as interviews with officers, those involved and any other witnesses.
“While the incident remains under investigation, we are sharing more details and the facts as we know them in an effort to provide as much transparency as possible,” the National Park Service said in a statement. “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.”
On the western edge of Albuquerque, Petroglyph National Monument encompasses one of North America’s largest petroglyph sites. The volcanic rocks that make up the monument’s desert escarpment are covered with designs and symbols carved by early Indigenous inhabitants and later Spanish settlers.
Park officials said the cliffs are a protected, sacred archeological site, and hiking is limited to designated trails for preservation purposes.
The monument has dealt over the years with vandalism ranging from dumping to graffiti. Officials said it’s a problem that persists nationwide, with incidents spanning from Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Zion and Joshua Tree national parks in the West. Earlier this year, two Nevada men were indicted after being accused of spray-painting an ancient rock in a national monument.
In the body camera video, the ranger tells House about the graffiti problems. House says that’s not what he was doing and that he respects the place.