A sobbing teenager who took the video that shocked the world said she watched George Floyd die in terror under the knee of a “heartless” police officer.
In floods of tears, Darnella Frazier told how Mr Floyd was “terrified, scared, begging for his life”.
She claimed officer Derek Chauvin was digging into Mr Floyd’s neck and even pressed “harder” as they pleaded with him to stop.
Asked how he was reacting to the public, she said: “If anything, he actually was kneeling harder, looked like he was shoving his knee in his neck.
“I feel like he was feeding off our energy. He just stared at us, looked at us.
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“He had this cold look, heartless. It seemed like he didn’t care what we were thinking. It didn’t change anything he was doing.”
Talking about Mr Floyd, she said: “He knew it was all over for him. It was over for him. He was terrified. He was in pain.”
The teen, now 18 years old, was giving evidence on the second day of Chauvin’s trial.
It followed a haunting opening by prosecutor Jerry Blackwell who said the 45 year old former officer had “betrayed” his badge ten months ago.
The jury have watched the teen’s horrifying nine minutes and 29 second video, taken on May 25 last year.
It showed Chauvin digging his knee into Mr Floyd’s neck as he begs for his “mumma” and pleads he can’t breathe 27 times.
The video of the fatal arrest sparked outrage and prompted global protests for racial justice and against police brutality.
A jury heard today that she was 17 years old when she walked her nine year old cousin to the Cup Foods store in Minneapolis for snacks.
Outside the store she saw a police officer kneeling on a man’s neck.
She said she didn’t want her cousin to see “a man terrified, scared, begging for his life,” so made sure she went into the shop.
She said she then returned to the scene and filmed it because: “It wasn’t right, he was suffering, he was in pain.
“I pulled out my phone, recording, catching what I was seeing. I heard George Floyd saying: ‘I can’t breathe, please, get off of me. I can’t breathe’.
“He cried for his mum. He was in pain. It seemed like he knew it was over for him.
“He was terrified, he was suffering, this was a cry for help, definitely...”
About the group watching the arrest, she said: “We all knew it wasn’t right.”.
But she said nobody threatened the police or used any violence against officers.
She said the only violence was “from the cops” and described how a firefighter asked Chauvin “multiple times” if she could check Floyd’s pulse but the officer “remained kneeling on his neck.
Asked why no one in the crowd did anything or tried to get close, she said she felt threatened as the officers “were quick to pull out mace.”
When asked if she felt threatened by Chauvin himself, she said: “Yes, he seemed like – how do I word this? I felt like I was in danger when he did that...That’s why I felt threatened.
“I don’t understand why the mace was even needed at all.”
When the paramedic arrived Mr Floyd’s pulse was checked while the officer’s knee was still on his neck, she said.
Her nine year old cousin later briefly gave evidence and told how the ambulance crew had to push the officer off Mr Floyd’s neck.
She said: “The ambulance had to push him off of him,” she said.
“They asked him nicely to get off of him. He still stayed on him. They just had to pull him off, ‘get off of him’.
Asked how it affected her, she said: “I was sad and kinda mad because it felt like he was stopping his breathing and it was kind of like hurting him.”
The defence declined to cross examine her.
The court heard that day the youngster was wearing a top with the word ‘love’ printed on her top.
Earlier a martial arts fighter had also ended up in tears as the court heard his 911 call.
Mr Donald Williams, who has studied mixed martial arts, said: “I did call the police on the police because I believed I witnessed a murder.”
During the call he tells the operator: “Officer 987 killing a citizen in front of us...
“He just pretty much killed this guy who wasn’t resisting arrest. He had his knee on this dude’s neck the whole time.
“The man was unresponsive, he wasn’t resisting arrest, he was already in handcuffs.
“I don’t know if he is dead for sure. But he was non-responsive when the ambulance came and got him.”
Mr Derek Chauvin has pleaded not guilty to three charges: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter.
The trial continues.
