Darnella Frazier, a Witness to History
In June, a year after she filmed police officers killing George Floyd, Frazier became the first modern citizen journalist to win a special citation from the Pulitzer Prize Board.
Darnella Frazier
Courtesy: Darnella Frazier
The Minneapolis Police Department’s original statement describing the encounter with Floyd attributed his death on May 25, 2020, to a “medical incident during police interaction.” That press release could have become the sole narrative of the encounter had Frazier, then 17, not been going to Cup Foods, the corner store Floyd had been at, with her cousin that day. After she stopped to film the 8 minutes and 46 seconds Floyd spent under Officer Derek Chauvin’s knee, she posted the video on Facebook and it went viral, getting almost 2 million views there—and more on other social media and news sites as it was reposted.
Capturing that moment had global ramifications. It sparked outrage that fueled a summer of protest and provided evidence against Chauvin at his trial in April, at which Frazier herself testified. He was ultimately convicted of murder. “Even though this was a traumatic, life-changing experience for me, I’m proud of myself,” Frazier wrote on Instagram on the anniversary of Floyd’s death. “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.”