A video taken this Sunday in New Mexico shows a park ranger tasing a Native American man during a scuffle that erupted after the ranger allegedly confronted the man for walking off the trail at the Petroglyph National Monument, KOB4 reports.
Darrell House, who is also a Marine veteran, was walking his dog at the national monument, which is also a sacred site. He said that he often goes to the site to pray and meditate, which according to him sometimes means leaving the trail by a few feet.
House claims that he moved off the trail to let a group of walkers pass for social distancing purposes, and that's when the ranger started "following" him.
"I guess he was upset about me going off trail before, you know, doing my prayers for the rocks," House said.
A video of the incident posted to social media starts out showing House on the ground screaming for help. The ranger then immediately deploys the taser, causing House to scream out in pain. When the ranger tries to get House to show his hands, House keeps them tightly tucked into his body and continues screaming.
"Show me your hands!" the ranger says while taking out his handcuffs, unsuccessfully trying to cuff House. The video, which reportedly goes on for four minutes, shows House continuing to struggle as the ranger tases him multiple times. House eventually complies and allows himself to be handcuffed.
It's not clear from the video why House was detained in the first place.
Speaking to KOB4, a spokesperson for National Park Service said incident is "under review and has been referred to our internal affairs unit for a thorough investigation."
"We take any allegation of wrongdoing very seriously, and appreciate the public's patience as we gather the facts of this incident," the spokesperson said.
Watch KOB4's report on the story below: