ST PAUL, Minn — Ramsey County prosecutors have now filed criminal charges against the 13-year-old girl who was seen on video being arrested in a St. Paul store.
She had been charged in juvenile court for assaulting a St. Paul police officer - which is a felony.
Police say the girl was trespassing and resisted arrest.
Some community members have questioned how officers handled the situation.
Her mother says she has mental health issues.
The mayor of St. Paul asked the city’s police chief to investigate how his officers handled the girl's arrest.
In a press conference Thursday, Carter said the community is owed an investigation because the incident captured on video raised concerns for many St. Paul residents. Carter said he understands why the video makes people uncomfortable.
"I don't think there's any one of us who ever wants to see a video of a young girl in a physical interaction with a St. Paul police officer," Carter said. "We don't know enough to be able to say much beyond that, except that it's disturbing and it's an image that we don't want to see in our community."
Mayor Melvin Carter called the arrest captured on video “deeply disturbing.” The video shows two officers trying to handcuff the girl who resisted arrest while on the floor at a UPS store and who police say did not follow orders to put her hands behind her back.
"I believe in our justice process, and I believe we should not rush to judgment either around the minor child involved in the incident nor the officers involved in the incident," Carter said in the press conference. "And this is why I've asked for a thorough, timely and transparent investigation, so that we can get to the bottom of what occurred."
Carter is asking Chief Todd Axtell to conduct an internal affairs investigation into the arrest. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports local civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong said the arrest of the girl, who is black, was “disgusting treatment” by two white male officers.
Police last Thursday were investigating a report of juveniles trying to enter vehicles when they encountered the girl. Officers were already looking for her, after a report she was violating a trespassing order by going to a BP gas station she'd been banned from.
A witness shot video of the arrest on her phone and posted it on Facebook, and the clip stirred up significant reaction. On Wednesday St. Paul Police sent out an incident report detailing the incident and what led up to it, also sharing the extensive criminal record of the teen.
Davida Conover, the girl's mother, said in a news conference Thursday night that her daughter struggles with mental illness — and that officers should have known that when they approached her.
"It really breaks my heart," she said. "Nobody should be treated like that."
She did not say whether she plans to file a complaint or take legal action against the department, but she said she was "disgusted" when she found out about the incident through Facebook.
"Maybe if they would have had a female officer present, it would have went totally different. They were so aggressive toward her so that triggers her," Conover said.
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