Video shows training exercise that family says lead to deputy’s death

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HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – A video obtained via a FOIA request shows the training exercise that the family of Asson Hacker says lead to his death in 2023.

The video shows the event at Club Bushido that participants referred to as the “Big Fight”. Druing the event, cadets were required to participate in a fight with a veteran police officer.

Hacker was paired with Major Michael Fisher of the Knox County Sheriff’s Department for his fight. In the video, Hacker appears to be out of breath and tired after just a few minutes. Despite this, the lawsuit claimed the exercise went on longer than the five minutes that were planned for each fight.

Hacker appeared in the background of videos of other fights, at first leaning against a set of ropes, and then falling to the ground a few minutes later. Many people in the room are seen checking on Hacker, before contacting AMR.

Hacker was pronounced dead approximately 4 hours later. His cause of death was listed as exertional sickling due to sickle cell trait. His family has filed a lawsuit alleging that Major Fisher used tactics against Hacker impeding his ability to breathe and would have been deemed an excessive use of force by department standards.

Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers said the prosecutor’s office reviewed the file and found no concerns of any criminal activity or any signs of wrongdoing. You can read a statement from Prosecutor Moers below:

I received the ISP file to review around 5/16/2024- this is when I have a notification that it was received and ready for my review.

We reviewed the file and found no concerns of any criminal activity or any signs of wrongdoing. We made the decision shortly after receiving and reviewing the file from the ISP investigation.

The county prosecutor is responsible for reviewing any allegations and investigatory reports for any potential criminal incident in Vanderburgh County- this includes potential law enforcement misconduct. The Sheriff’s office in particular has the Indiana State police conduct independent investigations and then they forward that file to the Prosecutor’s Office for review. We look for any conduct that is outside of the duties and responsibilities of law enforcement and which would rise to the level of a criminal violation.

In this case, we did not find any criminal or even suspicious conduct on the part of law enforcement. I personally reviewed this file, including footage of Asson Hacker during the training exercise, and observed the following: I found it to be routine training which all of our law enforcement men and women participate in as a necessary part of their job duties. The training is video-taped for each officer. The video shows Hacker wrestling with another officer while both are in protective gear and is a guided match (with a coach, a defensive tactics instructor, on the mat next to them and who is there for the purposes of instructing Hacker on what moves to make for training purposes). In the video, Hacker ends up on top of the other officer and handcuffs the other officer to finish the training exercise. Hacker does not appear to be in distress – he appears to be talking, breathing, and moving normally for someone who is exercising. The training exercise appears well-controlled and thus did not cause me any concern- I have seen many fights on body camera and the exercise pales comparison to the real fights that officers sometimes encounter in the field. Several other defensive tactics training officers were also present during the exercise.

I learned from my review of the file that at  the first sign of Asson Hacker feeling distressed he was given appropriate medical care and taken to the hospital.  We also know from the autopsy that Asson Hacker died from complications related to the sickle cell trait- it was also reported to medical staff and thus reported in the investigation of this case that Hacker kept a heavy workout regimen – beginning at 5 a.m. daily, he took several supplements, and chose to eat only 1 meal a day (at night in the evening). No trauma to his body or head was found.

Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers

You can view video of the fight between Hacker and Fisher in the video player above.

Emily Blackmarr will have more details during our 5 p.m. broadcast.

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