Darnella Frazier was called to testify as a witness in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Frazier wept as she recalled witnessing Floyd's death and spoke about how it has personally affected her.
The teenager who recorded the disturbing video of George Floyd’s fatal arrest wept in court on Tuesday describing how the events have subsequently changed her life. “I've stayed up apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more,” Frazier said in testimony during the second day of Derek Chauvin’s murder trial.
Cameras were not permitted to record Frazier as she took the stand. Chauvin stood and removed his mask as she identified him in court.
“A man, terrified, scared, begging for his life,” Frazier said of Floyd. “It wasn’t right. He was suffering. He was in pain.”
Frazier and other eyewitnesses that day are being called a “bouquet of humanity” for risking arrest while begging Chauvin to remove his knee from Floyd’s neck.
Donald Williams, a former martial fighter, was another witness who took the stand, saying he was familiar with a hold known as a “blood choke” that renders your opponent unconscious. “I believe I witnessed a murder,” Williams said on the stand.
A 911 call Williams made after the incident was played in court: “That was bogus what they just did to this man. He was unresponsive. He wasn’t resisting arrest, or any of it.”
Genevieve Hanson, a Minneapolis firefighter, also confronted police that day.
“The prosecution decided, after opening statements, to go with real people. People — the bystanders who were there, the witnesses who watched this happen — instead of going immediately into expert witnesses. It makes it a little bit easier on the jurors,” CBS national correspondent Jamie Yuccas said.
Chauvin has pleaded not guilty. If convicted of the most serious charge, he could be sentenced to up to 40 years in prison.
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