Family members of an Indiana man who died after an encounter with local authorities say the body camera footage of the incident doesn’t fully depict what happened the night their loved one died.
Rhyker Earl died after deputies and first responders were called to a Jasper County home on Sept. 8 to render medical aid for multiple epileptic seizures he suffered that day.
At some point during the encounter, Earl was restrained on the floor by deputies with his face in a pillow, family members said. He became unresponsive in the minutes afterward and was pronounced dead two days later at a local hospital.
The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office released parts of the body camera footage showing the incident. However, family members said it’s missing critical moments, including footage that should show Earl’s aunt running out of the house screaming, “You just killed him,” and other footage that should show an officer putting his “dirty boot” on Earl’s back.
“I want to see the full footage,” Earl’s aunt, Miracle Gawlinski, said during a press conference on Monday. “As a witness to this tragic night, I know there’s more footage out there somewhere. There is footage of me screaming, pleading, ‘he’s blue, take his pulse,’ screaming so loud that people outside heard it.”
Some of the footage shows the moments before deputies cuffed Earl.
In the video, viewers can hear a deputy yell at Earl for hitting a medic. The sheriff’s office later released that Earl was displaying “significant physical resistance” during the encounter.
His family said that he was in a postictal state, which impacts a person’s mental state after they suffer a seizure. A person can become confused or more easily agitated and can also respond differently to medications.
“I have watched him have 50 seizures,” Earl’s sister, Tara, told WTHR. “It takes him up to 15 minutes to come back to himself after a seizure. I’ve had to remind him of who I am.”
After Earl was reprimanded, the video shows deputies forcing him to the ground and cuffing him as he desperately yells and pleads for them to get off of him.
“I’m going to die!” Earl is heard shouting at first responders, who were called to the home after his grandmother called 911.
“You’re not going to die,” a deputy tells Earl. “We’re trying to help you.”
Earl was also seen slamming his head against the floor, which prompted deputies to put a pillow underneath him to cushion the blows.
Family members said the medics gave Earl at least four shots of ketamine while he was on the floor.
The bodycam video shows paramedics administering what appear to be sedatives to Earl’s backside. Moments later, medics checked Earl’s pulse but couldn’t find it.
A medic is seen in the video immediately administering CPR before first responders rush Earl to a nearby hospital. Two days later, he was removed from life support after tests showed he had no brain activity.
“The only thing I really have right now is anger,” Gawlinski stated.
After releasing the bodycam footage, the sheriff’s office stated that it “is not drawing any conclusions about the actions of anyone involved in this incident. The independent investigation will draw those conclusions.”
Autopsy results are still pending, and Indiana State Police are investigating the incident.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Earl’s family, attributed the 26-year-old’s death to a “failure of duty” on the part of the authorities who arrived to handle the medical call.
“Either this is going to be a George Floyd situation where the lack of oxygen to the brain killed him, or it’s going to be an Elijah McClain situation where EMTs administering drugs killed him. We don’t know,” Crump said.
Earl leaves behind a 6-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter.
“I just want justice for my brother,” Rhyker’s sister said.
