HOME / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Where is Darnella Frazier now? Girl, 18, who filmed George Floyd arrest 'cried hard' after Derek Chauvin verdict

'I just cried so hard This last hour my heart was beating so fast, I was so anxious, anxiety bussing through the roof. But to know GUILTY ON ALL 3 CHARGES !!! THANK YOU GOD,' she said

People are expressing their gratitude towards Darnella Frazier, the young woman who filmed the arrest of George Floyd, after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all charges in the murder of the Black man.

Frazier was taking her nine-year-old cousin out for snacks when she stopped and filmed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck, which she uploaded to her Facebook in May 2020 and ignited international protests over racism and police abuse. Frazier, who was 17 years old when she filmed the video of Floyd’s arrest and is now 18, was one of the first to testify during the murder trial. For her efforts, she received a courage award honored by the literary and human rights organization PEN America. Here's all about where she is now. 

RELATED ARTICLES

Darnella Frazier: Teen who shot George Floyd's death says 'cold' Derek Chauvin kneeled harder when asked to stop

Who is Darnella Frazier? Teenager who recorded George Floyd's death receives PEN America award for courage

Where is Darnella Frazier now?

After Chauvin was found guilty of murdering Floyd, Frazier took to Facebook to say this: "George Floyd we did it!! Justice has been served." Her profile says that she is from Nashville, Tennessee, and that she currently lives in Kingston, the capital and largest city on the island of Jamaica. She was studying at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis when the incident occurred. She was walking with her cousin to the Cup Foods convenience store when she came across the arrest of Floyd.

“I see a man on the ground, and I see a cop kneeling down on him,” Frazier said in a report by The New York Times. She described seeing Floyd “terrified, scared, begging for his life”. She added that a crowd of bystanders were yelling at the officers when Chauvin reached for his mace. “I felt in danger when he did that," Frazier said.

In her April 20 Facebook post after the verdict, 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."

“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 said in a report by The New York Times. She added, possibly referring to Chauvin: “But it’s like, it’s not what I should have done, it’s what he should have done.”

Since Floyd's death, Frazier has largely remained out of the spotlight, but she has admitted that his death has haunted her and that she suffers from anxiety. During the trial, her speech was emotional and she apologized many times during her off-camera testimony. “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,” Frazier said in the report. “I have a Black father. I have a Black brother. I have Black friends. I look at how that could have been one of them," she added.

'Darnella Frazier changed the world'

Netizens praised Frazier for having the "presence of mind" to record Floyd's murder and wondered how different the outcome of the Chauvin trial could have been without her video.

"Can we all sing a praise song for Darnella Frazier who had the presence of mind to film that video that made such a difference in this case and now must live with the memories that will walk alongside her for the rest of her years," said a Twitter user. "If Darnella Frazier hadn’t filmed what happened and uploaded it to social media, where would this case be? #GeorgeFloyd," said another. "Darnella Frazier changed the world," a third quipped.