Rhyker Earl's Family Questions Newly Released Bodycam Video – NBC Chicago

The family of Rhyker Earl, a 26-year-old father who died after being handcuffed as a result of a medical emergency, said videos were released last week from body-worn cameras of sheriff's deputies responding to a call reacted to an epileptic seizure at his home in Indiana. This doesn't add up.

“The last message I got from him was, 'I had a seizure but I'm fine…The next thing I knew he was on life support,'” said Cassie Paris, the mother of his two children, at a press conference with National Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump.

“If we were trying to teach a course on what not to do, it would be this video,” Crump said. “It's a teachable moment.” Crump said he would like to see a national discussion about how police deal with medical emergencies such as epilepsy, which is estimated to affect up to three million Americans.

“Rhyker was unarmed, suffering from seizures, was surrounded by multiple officers and posed no real threat to the officers, yet multiple officers held him down and used their weight to keep him face down,” Crump said.

Other relatives asked whether the sheriff had released all available videos.

“I will never forget my daughter Miracle flying out the front door screaming. They just killed him…they just killed him,” said Sharon Earl, Rhyker’s grandmother. “I didn’t hear that on the video,” she said.

In a statement last week, the Jasper County Sheriff said, “The deputies' responsibility was to prevent Mr. Earl from causing harm to himself or emergency medical services personnel while providing medical assistance.”

He said the videos were posted on YouTube in the interest of transparency.

“We believe it is critical that our community has as much information as possible and can assess the incident regardless of outside influences,” said Sheriff Pat Williamson. Indiana State Police have taken over the investigation into Earl's death.

The cause of death has not been released pending the results of toxicology tests.

“I will miss him and I just hope that there is some responsibility for what happened,” said Travis Earl, Rhyker’s father. He wrapped his arms around his wife, Paris, during the press conference, held at the Urban League's offices in Chicago's Grand Crossing neighborhood.

Crump attributed Earl's death to “failure of duty” and a lack of training and compassion. He also questioned a scene in the video in which an officer appears to restrain Earl by kicking him in the back.

“Rhyker should have been given dignity. A kick in the neck during a medical emergency is not dignity and it is not the compassion we expect from law enforcement,” Crump said.

Earl's family and attorneys are keeping their options open for a possible lawsuit.