George Floyd death: Teen to receive courage award for filming victim's last moments

On May 25, 2020, Darnella Frazier was one of the people present in Minneapolis, Minnesota when police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's neck leading to his death. The 17-year-old girl while pleading with the officers to spare the man's life, recorded the entire incident. The upsetting video went viral resulting in a nationwide movement that drew global attention. For her role in sparking the historical movement, the PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, Novelists) America organisation will be honouring the teen with the 2020 PEN/Benenson Courage Award on December 8. The organisation made the announcement on Tuesday, October 27, adding Frazier to the list of honourees this year.

In the PEN America press release, the CEO of the organisation Suzanne Nossel stated: "With remarkable steadiness, Darnella carried out the expressive act of bearing witness, and allowing hundreds of millions around the world to see what she saw. Without Darnella's presence of mind and readiness to risk her own safety and well-being, we may never have known the truth about George Floyd's murder. We are proud to recognise her exceptional courage with this award."

Fraizer will be the co-recipient of the 2020 PEN/Benenson Courage Award. The other recipient is Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who was pushed out by the Trump administration.

The award recipients will be honoured during the annual gala of the organisation. This year, the virtual gala will take place in December.

Earlier this year, Fraizer witnessed the police brutality which led Floyd's death. Helplessly, she recorded the officers preventing public intervention while one of them knelt on the victim's neck for over eight minutes. The video of the 46-year-old begging for his life and repeating, "I can't breathe" was shared on social media by the teen.

Soon after, the video became viral, leading to the re-invigoration of the Black Lives Matter movement. The movement saw the officers involved get arrested and convicted for their role in Floyd's death.

Fraizer's life was deeply impacted by what she witnesses and her actions that followed. While she was hailed for her role in sparking the movement, she told TMZ that she also faced backlash for her video. The teen has been traumatised by both the incident she witnessed as well as the harassment she faced. However, she continued to speak out against police brutality and racial discrimination in the United States.