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Darnella Frazier, who filmed video of George Floyd’s killing at age 17, speaks out

25 May 2021
 Dan Ackermann

Darnella Frazier, who was 17 years old when she recorded the viral video of Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck, posted a tribute on Tuesday, decrying a country that looks at Black people as "thugs, animals, and criminals."

Why it matters: Tuesday marks the one-year anniversary of Floyd's death, which triggered an avalanche of Black Lives Matter protests across the U.S. and around the globe and led to Chauvin's conviction on charges of murder and manslaughter.

  • Frazier told jurors in March that she stays up at night "apologizing" to Floyd.

What she's saying: "A year ago, today I witnessed a murder," she wrote Tuesday on Facebook. "Although this wasn’t the first time, I’ve seen a black man get killed at the hands of the police, this is the first time I witnessed it happen in front of me. Right in front of my eyes, a few feet away."

  • "I was only 17 at the time, just a normal day for me walking my 9-year-old cousin to the corner store, not even prepared for what I was about to see," she wrote. A year later, "I’m not who I used to be," she added.
  • "Having to up and leave because my home was no longer safe, waking up to reporters at my door, closing my eyes at night only to see a man who is brown like me, lifeless on the ground," she wrote.
  • "I used to shake so bad at night my mom had to rock me to sleep. Hopping from hotel to hotel because we didn’t have a home and looking over our back every day in the process. Having panic and anxiety attacks every time I seen a police car ... I hold that weight."
  • "Behind this smile, behind these awards, behind the publicity, I’m a girl trying to heal from something I am reminded of every day," she wrote. "These officers shouldn’t get to decide if someone gets to live or not ... It shouldn’t have to take people to actually go through something to understand it’s not ok."
  • "George Floyd, I can’t express enough how I wish things could have went different, but I want you to know you will always be in my heart. I’ll always remember this day because of you..."

Go deeper:George Floyd's family says Biden reaffirmed commitment to police reform

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.