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Darnella Frazier: GoFundMe campaign raises $688,000 for 'healing' of girl, 18, who filmed George Floyd's death

The 18-year-old who took the video of George Floyd’s arrest and eventual death feels guilty for not doing enough for him

Almost a year after the tragic death of George Floyd in May 2020, former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of all charges — second-degree unintentional murder, second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder. The three-week trial saw a number of people testifying and one of the key witnesses in the case was Darnella Frazier.

Frazier contributed a lot to the case since she was the one who took the video of Floyd’s arrest and eventual death. She had also shared the clip on Facebook, which subsequently went viral. After Chauvin was convicted on April 20, the 18-year-old took to Facebook to express her views. She wrote, “I just cried so hard This last hour my heart was beating so fast, I was so anxious, anxiety bussing (sic) through the roof. But to know GUILTY ON ALL 3 CHARGES !!! THANK YOU GOD THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU George Floyd we did it!! justice has been served.”

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Several prominent leaders and public figures such as President Joe Biden and Oprah Winfrey applauded the teen. Also, a GoFundMe page was set up for her and reportedly after the guilty verdict, the fundraising page has received a lot of money.

Did Darnella Frazier get paid?

According to reports, on the fateful day of May 25, 2020, Frazier and her nine-year-old cousin were at the Cup Foods convenience store when they saw the arrest of the 46-year-old African-American man. She immediately began recording the arrest on her phone. The footage helped everyone understand what actually happened that day. There was also a stark contrast between the Minneapolis Police Department's initial news release and Frazier’s video which showed how the 45-year-old cop kneeled on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes.

While giving her testimony in court, the girl expressed her guilt for not doing enough for Floyd that day. She has reportedly been facing anxiety issues. “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,” Frazier told The New York Times.

Because of her bravery, she also received a lot of support from people online. The fundraiser which was launched by Angela Shelby and Mica Cole Kamenski on behalf of Frazier's mother, LaTangie Gillespie, has received more donations after she gave her testimony. The fundraising page received $688,195 of the $1,000,000 goal at the time of writing this article. As per the description of the page, Frazier “deserves peace and healing”.

It continues, “In addition to the trauma of watching a black man be murdered by police, she has had to deal with trolls, bullies and ignorant people harassing her online. It took unbelievable courage for her to stand there and bear witness to such an awful tragedy. We all have our roles to play in the revolution against white supremacy. Darnella played an important one and should be uplifted, not shamed. Something broke. This country will never be the same. And in the midst of our rage and pain, we cannot let this young black woman become a casualty.”

“George Floyd paid the ultimate price of being black in this country. But let us not forget that a CHILD had to be the eyes for this nation. A CHILD paid the price of her innocence, her well-being, her hope, so that white people would start to wake the f-$& up. And people are going out of their way to break her spirit?! Hell. Nawl. Nope. Not on my watch and not on yours. White folks: You woke now? Stay woke. You mad? Stay mad. You care about Black Lives? Well we finna care about Darnella, too. You can’t put a price on a child’s spirit. This fund is to support the healing and the restoration of hope for Darnella Frazier — whatever that means to her. There are many places in the movement where your resources are needed. This is one of them. Thank you,” the message concludes.

The official Twitter account for GoFundMe also shared a link to the fundraising page and confirmed that it is for Frazier. The caption read, “Here is the verified GoFundMe to bring ‘peace & healing’ to Darnella Frazier—the brave teen who filmed George Floyd's final moments.”