Raleigh police release body cam video of arrest of 17-year-old girl during downtown protest that police chief called concerning

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The Raleigh Police Department released footage on Friday of the arrest of an underage girl during a demonstration downtown last week.

The body camera video shows the chaotic scuffle during the arrests of two marchers but doesn't answer many questions about what led up to it.

The City of Raleigh and Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown this week petitioned for the video to be released and a Wake County judge agreed that it should be made public.

The arrests happened last Thursday and were the subject of social media backlash against the police department because both demonstrators who were arrested are Black and one is a minor.

Deck-Brown said last week that the actions of the officers in the videos caused her concern and she promised an investigation into what happened.

Raleigh City Council member Jonathan Melton also called the video "disturbing" and "unacceptable."

Raleigh police say it all started after an officer approached the demonstrators, who were seated in the road, to tell them to move out of the intersection.

Video shows the protesters and the officer talking for a few minutes and then the situation escalates to yelling.

There is no audio on that portion of the video so it's unclear what the officer says to the demonstrators or what they say to the officer. Raleigh police did not give an explanation as to why there was no audio in that clip, only noting that it was an "after-the-fact recording" and such recordings do not contain audio.

Video then shows the group starting to surround the officer on the motorcycle.

As the officer starts to back away, a girl -- later identified as a 17-year-old -- steps in front of the vehicle, yelling at the officer.

The officer eventually pulls away.

Other videos released Friday, that do include audio, show a separate team of officers arresting the girl a short time later.

In the video, other demonstrators try to block the officers to keep them away from her, yelling that she's only 17.

She was eventually put in zip ties and taken into custody.

Deck-Brown ultimately said the girl was not charged and was released to her parents. The other woman who was arrested was cited and released but Deck-Brown said her charges would be dismissed.

A total of 11 videos were released and they show physical confrontations between multiple officers and demonstrators.