Teen who recorded George Floyd video says she’s being harassed online
A 17-year-old girl who recorded Monday’s incident involving George Floyd and Minneapolis police spoke out Wednesday against people she says are harassing her online.
Darnella Frazier captured video of Floyd being pinned to the ground by Minneapolis police. Her 10-minute video shows Floyd clinging to life and eventually becoming unconscious. Floyd later died at an area hospital, according to police.
She posted the video to Facebook, where it has been shared more than 44,000 times since early Tuesday morning. The video has also received more than 13,000 comments as of Thursday.
Some of those comments appear to lambaste her for posting the video and not intervening. She is heard in the video asking police many times to stop pinning Floyd.
“I’m doing it for clout?? For attention?? What?? To get paid??” she asked on Facebook. “Now y’all just sound dumb and ignorant!! I don’t expect anyone who wasn’t placed in my position to understand why and how I feel the way that I do. MIND YOU I am a minor! 17 years old, of course I’m not about to fight off a cop.”
She went on to say police would have swept the incident under the rug if it weren’t for her video.
“Instead of bashing me, THANK ME,” she wrote. “Because that could’ve been one of your loved ones and you would want to see the truth as well.”
The four police officers at the scene of the incident were all fired Tuesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced.
Floyd did not have a pulse when he was taken to a hospital by an ambulance, according to a fire department report obtained by the Star-Tribune. The newspaper reported that attempts to revive Floyd by first responders and emergency room personnel were unsuccessful.
Frazier returned to the location Tuesday, where she witnessed the scene. In video posted by NowThis, she called the experience “traumatizing.”
“Everybody’s asking me how do I feel? I don’t know how to feel, cause it’s so sad, bro,” she said.
Protests and riots have taken place in Minneapolis since Floyd died. Many people are calling for the officers involved to be criminally charged.
This story was originally published May 28, 2020 at 4:29 PM with the headline "Teen who recorded George Floyd video says she’s being harassed online."