Darnella Frazier, the young woman who filmed footage of George Floyd’s arrest and killing that later went viral, delivered emotional testimony on Tuesday about the toll of witnessing Floyd’s death.
“When I look at George Floyd, I look at my dad, I look at my brothers, I look at my cousins, my uncles because they’re all Black. I have a Black father. I have a Black brother. I have Black friends. And I look at that, and I look at how that could have been one of them,” Frazier, who is now 18 years old, testified through tears.
“It’s been nights I stayed up apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life, but it’s not what I should have done. It’s what he should have done,” she continued, referring to Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who choked Floyd and is on trial for murder charges.
During her testimony, Frazier — who was 17 years old when she witnessed Floyd’s death — said she was compelled to record the incident because of what she saw and heard happening.
“[I saw] a man terrified, scared, begging for his life,” Frazier said. “It wasn’t right. He was suffering. He was in pain.”
“It seemed like he knew it was over for him,” she added later. “He was terrified, he was suffering. This was a cry for help.”