

Twelve-year-old Corey Jackson appeared in court this week to face felony charges of disorderly conduct with violence, criminal trespassing, and obstruction—but Jackson maintains he didn’t do anything wrong.

The 12-year-old rapper who goes by “Lil C Note” was assaulted by a police officer and arrested for allegedly selling his mixtape without a permit at a Georgia mall in October. Jackson and his family insist that they did nothing wrong, and are demanding that the police release the body cam footage from the encounter. The officer involved was not on duty at the time of the arrest.

Jackson‘s lawyer, Mawuli Davis, says that he wasn’t even selling CDs at the mall.

“When he was there, he was not selling any CDs or doing anything that would have been prohibited. He was there meeting other artists,” Davis said.

The officer claims he saw Jackson selling his mixtape in the mall on numerous previous occasions, leading some to question if the officer may have had a personal vendetta against Jackson after reprimanding him for selling his CDs in the past.

While Jackson’s family was with him during the arrest, the officer ignored them and instead dealt with the 12-year-old as if he were an adult. Jackson’s aunt recorded a portion of the interaction, which shows the officer threatening the young boy with a strong grip on his arm. Jackson can be seen attempting to wiggle away from the officer and demanding to be let go of. As a result, the officer became aggressive and knocked the boy and his aunt both to the ground.

Jackson posted on Instagram this week, saying he is looking forward to putting this case behind him.

“Seriously like I really wake up everyday asking myself why would this police officer tell these Ludacris /ridiculous stories on me that now have me having to go to court facing a felony at 12 years old as if I’m really a robber, killer / Murderer or some kid that cuss out and fight police officers or sum!! Like I’m jus so foreal I just don’t understand why a man would do this & have me going threw all this!! #NotWorthItAtAll I wish they just hurry up with this and release all cameras especially the police officer body cam that he had on…”

There is no reason to arrest independent vendors for building their businesses or sharing their art in public spaces. It is true that mall managers want a cut of everything that is sold on their property, but that business model is failing miserably, as many legacy corporations that filled malls around the country are closing down. Just this week, NBC reported that thousands of stores were closing in malls across the US, as it is no longer profitable for them to pay the overhead costs associated with the locations.