Teen who recorded George Floyd’s murder recounts experience one year later: ‘It made me realize how dangerous it is to be Black in America’

Darnella Frazier, the 18-year-old who recorded George Floyd’s murder, shared some of her thoughts Tuesday, exactly one year after then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killed the 46-year-old Black man.

“Although this wasn’t the first time, I’ve seen a Black man get killed at the hands of the police, this is the first time I witnessed it happen in front of me,” Frazier wrote in a Facebook post. “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.”

Darnella Frazier (blue pants), is seen while recording the murder of George Floyd. Her video later went viral.

Frazier, who was 17 when the murder happened, testified at Chauvin’s trial in March. On the stand, she said she stayed up nights “apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life.”

She later added, in reference to Chauvin, “It’s not what I should have done, it’s what he should have done.”

“Even though this was a traumatic life-changing experience for me, I’m proud of myself,” she wrote Tuesday. “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.”

After Chauvin was convicted, many people hailed Frazier as a hero, noting how the initial police statement on Floyd’s death did not accurately describe what happened.

“A lot of people call me a hero even though I don’t see myself as one. I was just in the right place at the right time,” Frazier wrote. “Behind this smile, behind these awards, behind the publicity, I’m a girl trying to heal from something I am reminded of every day. Everyone talks about the girl who recorded George Floyd’s death, but to actually be her is a different story.”

She also wrote about how Floyd’s murder “changed how I viewed life.”

“It made me realize how dangerous it is to be Black in America. We shouldn’t have to walk on eggshells around police officers, the same people that are supposed to protect and serve. We are looked at as thugs, animals, and criminals, all because of the color of our skin.”

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