Family demands body cam footage after NW Indiana dad dies after police encounter

CHICAGO — Family members of a northwest Indiana father who died after being restrained by police are demanding to see the officers’ body camera footage and have called upon a high-profile lawyer to get it done.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump joined survivors of 26-year-old Rhyker Earl and family attorney Steve Wagner at the Chicago Urban League on Monday to demand “transparency” in the investigation and to refute claims made in a statement by the Jasper County sheriff that Wagner had “gaslit” the community about what played out when police responded to the family’s 911 call.

“The sheriff apparently thinks I’m gaslighting him by asking for these answers,” Wagner said. “I’m not sure he knows what gaslighting means.”

Earl was diagnosed with epilepsy several years ago and was on medication but experienced several episodes on Sept. 8, prompting his grandmother’s call to 911. She recalled Monday how EMTs asked her to go into the bathroom and close the door once they arrived at Earl’s DeMotte, Ind., home.

“When I came out of the bathroom, the fire department was there. There was two ambulances there. There was police all over the place, which, to a person having a seizure, and that .. it makes him nervous,” Connie Weidner said, describing her grandson as “such a good kid.”

According to family and a lawsuit, officers took Earl to the floor and handcuffed him behind his back with his face in a pillow while restricting his breathing.

“Rhyker just kept screaming,’I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!’ We’ve been around him for multiple seizures and he’s never, never, never been violent to anybody. I just don’t want this to happen to somebody else,” Earl’s grandfather, Chuck Weidner, recalled through tears.

Earl was taken to a hospital, but tests confirmed he had no brain activity. He was eventually removed from life support on Sept. 10th.

In a statement released last week , Sheriff Pat Williamson said that his department had reviewed body-worn cameras of deputies at the scene and said there were “false or misleading claims” made by the Earl family attorney. Williamson said said the pillow was used to prevent Earl from being injured and that “his breathing was not restricted.”

Williamson said the footage cannot be released until after the investigation by the Indiana State Police is completed. WGN News has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the footage.

A cause and manner of death have not been released. The Lake County coroner, who is handling the death investigation, told WGN News Tuesday an autopsy performed and medical records and toxicology results are pending a review. Their chief deputy said it usually takes up to three weeks.

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