Story at a glance
- Frazier recorded the viral video of Floyd’s murder that led to the conviction of Derek Chauvin.
- “I didn’t know this man from a can of paint, but I knew his life mattered. I knew that he was in pain. I knew that he was another black man in danger with no power,” she said in a statement Tuesday.
- The one-year anniversary of Floyd’s death was Tuesday.
The teenage girl who caught the police killing of George Floyd on camera has spoken out one year after Floyd’s death saying she still carries the burden of what she saw.
“A year ago, today I witnessed a murder. The victim’s name was George Floyd,” Darnella Frazier, 18, wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
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“I didn’t know this man from a can of paint, but I knew his life mattered. I knew that he was in pain. I knew that he was another black man in danger with no power,” she said.
Frazier, who was 17 at the time, was walking to a store with her 9-year-old cousin when she saw Floyd being restrained by several police officers in the street.
She quickly pulled out her phone to record the incident and captured former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.
Frazier’s video kicked off a nationwide reckoning on racial inequality and police brutality and was key evidence in Chauvin’s murder trial.
Chauvin was convicted for the murder of Floyd in April.
Frazier spoke of being traumatized by the experience, saying she’s suffered from panic attacks and used to shake so bad at night her mother had to rock her to sleep.
“A part of my childhood was taken from me,” she wrote.
But despite her suffering, Frazier said she was proud of herself for taking action.
“Even though this was a traumatic life-changing experience for me, I’m proud of myself. If it weren’t for my video the world wouldn’t have known the truth. I own that. My video didn’t save George Floyd, but it put his murderer away and off the streets,” she said.
She closed her statement by addressing Floyd directly.
“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,” she said.
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