Teen who took Floyd arrest video testifies

The Minneapolis teenager who took cellphone video of the arrest of George Floyd cried Tuesday as she was shown an image from the recording at the trial of a former policeman charged with murder in the case.

Over the first two days of witness testimony, prosecutors have shown the jury video taken from multiple angles, including the young woman's video of ex-Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, pressing his knee into the neck of a dying Floyd, a handcuffed 46-year-old black man, for about nine minutes on May 25, 2020, in Minnesota's largest city.

Darnella Frazier, 18, said she was walking her 9-year-old cousin to buy some snacks at Cup Foods, where a worker had moments before accused Floyd of using a fake $20 bill, when she saw police arresting Floyd on the road outside.

The footage, which prosecutors say shows excessive force, led to one of the largest protest movements seen in the United States in decades, with daily marches against police brutality against African Americans. The heightened national tensions following Floyd's death unfolded in a country already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. 

Frazier told the jury that in Floyd she saw "a man terrified, scared, begging for his life", and so she ensured her cousin was safely inside the store and out of sight before taking out her cellphone.

Frazier's voice quavered when prosecutors brought up a still from her video, showing the moment when Chauvin, his knee on Floyd's neck, appears to look directly into Frazier's camera lens. She said Chauvin had "this cold look, heartless".

Lawyers for Chauvin, 45, say he followed his police training and is not guilty of the charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder or second-degree manslaughter brought by the Minnesota attorney general's office.

The defense has argued that Chauvin did what he was trained to do, and that Floyd's death was not caused by the officer but by a combination of illegal drug use, heart disease, high blood pressure and the adrenaline flowing through his body.

Chauvin's lawyers have said that he was distracted from "the care" of Floyd by the taunting bystanders who had joined Frazier on the sidewalk. 

Frazier said Chauvin continued to kneel on Floyd while then-fellow police officer Tou Thao held the crowd of about 15 back, even when one of the onlookers identified herself as a firefighter.

"They definitely put their hands on the Mace, and we all pulled back," Frazier told the jury.

Genevieve Hansen, 27, a Minneapolis firefighter and emergency medical technician, testified that she had pleaded with officers to take Floyd's pulse. She also called 911, the third witness to do so.

Donald Williams, a professional mixed martial arts fighter, can be heard on the videos of the arrest of Floyd screaming insults at Chauvin and demanding police check for Floyd's pulse. He told jurors he believed that Chauvin was using his knee in a "blood choke" on Floyd, a wrestling move to knock an opponent unconscious, and a "shimmy" move to tighten pressure on Floyd's neck.

"You can see that he's trying to gasp for air," Williams, 33, said of Floyd.

Williams testified that he called 911 after paramedics took Floyd away, "because I believed I witnessed a murder." In a recording of the emergency call, Williams could be overheard yelling at the officers: "Y'all is murderers, bro!"

"I felt I needed to call the police on the police," he said.

Williams said he was stepping on and off the curb, and at one point, Thao, who was controlling the crowd, put his hand on Williams' chest. Williams admitted under questioning that he told Thao he would beat the officers if Thao touched him again.

But witnesses also testified that no bystanders actually interfered with police.

Eric Nelson, Chauvin's lead lawyer, read aloud the insults that Williams directs at Chauvin in the video.

"You call him a 'tough guy'?" Nelson asked. "You call him a 'real man?'"

Williams looked away with a slight smile as each insult was read.

"You call him a 'bum' at least 13 times?" Nelson continued.

"If that's what you count in the video," Williams replied, smiling again, "then that's what you got: 13."

Agencies contributed to this story.