The George Floyd Video – What Darnella Frazier Taught Us That Hasn’t Been Noticed

Like others I believe the cop who murdered George Floyd wouldn’t have been convicted without the video recorded by a brave teenager.    Darnella Frazier is a hero, and it pains me that she feels guilt about not doing more.   As I see it she did all she could.   More importantly she did what she did in a way we never seem to see and therein is the lesson I want to talk about.

Think about other bystander videos of other incidents of police doing awful things.   (Almost) every time, even when someone records for a minute or more they aim the phone all over the place!   Sure, they spend some time on the cop and victim, but usually their inner wannabe Hollywood cinematographer or news camera carrier takes over and they start aiming there cell phone camera all over the place!   Anywhere and everywhere except on the cop(s) and the victim – the incident itself.   With adrenaline pumping as it surely does for most people in a situation like that it’s difficult enough to hold a cell phone still enough to get a good video image.   But turning to get crowd shots, or to “capture the bigger picture” damned near always winds up producing a lot of herky-jerky imagery that also takes the focus off what is actually being done to the actual victim of police violence.

While you consider that, also keep in mind the body camera images (and sound) from the police themselves – assuming they both have them and have activated them.   Those videos often are anything but “static” and again, tend to show the cop(s) turning this way and that, and sometimes not even showing critical stuff.   How much of the knee of Chauvin on George Floyd’s neck can you recall the body cameras of Chauvin or the other cops showing?   Or from that camera mounted across the street?

Long ago, before at age 26 when I went into the Marines I officiated high school sports.   One thing the older guys who mentored people like me would say again and again was that being in the right spot to see something was critical to making the right call.   And that over time I’d learn that when I blew a call it would be because I was either out of the position I should be in or shifted my focus from the critical action.   Or both.   I don’t know if Ms. Frazier moved a bit to get into the position she recorded from, but she was in a very good spot to observe what mattered the most – Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd, with one knee on his upper back and the other on his neck! 

Most importantly, Ms. Frazier made sure she stayed in position to record what was happening.  She also made sure to pretty much keep the camera on Chauvin and Floyd.   She kept it aimed exactly where it needed to be and did so for nine and a half minutes.   I don’t know whether that was a conscious choice on her part or instinctual, or if somewhere along the way she came to the realization that she needed to ignore what was going on around her and keep her camera steady and aimed just where she had it aimed.   But she did so, and in the process made sure the whole world could see a cop murdering a citizen who should have never been on the ground in the prone position in the first place.   In the end, more than anything else Darnella Frazier’s composure and presence of mind provided the most important piece of evidence that allowed some measure of justice to be meted out on George Floyd’s behalf.

That’s a lesson I wish everyone would take from Ms. Frazier.   A lesson that should be talked about, and that advocacy groups would actually promote.   Sort of a “If you see something bad going down and have your phone keep the phone aimed at the cop(s) and the person they are abusing!   Keep it as steady as you can, and if you have to move to get a better view do so slowly, but keep the camera aimed at the incident!   And for heaven’s sake DON’T go trying to get “crowd reaction” shots!” 

If I were a person of faith I’d be praying for Ms. Frazier to recover from the trauma and guilt that still clearly haunts her.   But, on the off chance she might one day learn what I’ve written here I offer my hopes that she will do so.   She is an extraordinary young woman with a great deal of promise.   She proved that, at least to me.   I hope that the day comes (and soon) that she is able to make peace with the reality that had she physically tried to intervene she’d have not only failed, but would have been arrested and by now have a life altering (for the worse) felony conviction on her record.   In addition to that, the most important piece of evidence against Chauvin wouldn’t exist.

But she DID do the one thing she could do and she did it better than anyone I’ve seen record police misconduct do.   She got video (with some audio) documentation of a cop murdering a citizen in broad daylight and got that video out to the world before the police on the scene could craft the kind of slander the victim narrative they always do.  I chose the title pic in all it’s awful brutality for a reason.   If you look at the side images you can see another cop – not one of the three who took active part in pinning George Floyd to the ground and literally squeezing the life out of him.   There was a fourth who stood guard between those three and Ms. Frazier and the other small groups of bystanders pleading for Floyd’s very life.   And, there was a fifth across the street to discourage others (those in the car with Floyd when the cops showed up) from getting back in the car, but mostly keeping an eye on his fellow cops as Floyd died at their hands.

Ms. Frazier (and the others) you did all you could do.   Had you tried to physically intervene, or even threaten to do so and stepped off the curb at best you’d have been arrested.   At worst you’d have been shot and even killed by one or more of those cops.  And George Floyd would still have wound up murdered in that street.

YOU  DID  ALL  YOU  COULD.

I’m not a well known writer, but I hope that enough people see this that someone who is will make the point I’ve tried to make to a broader audience.   The point that if you see something like a cop abusing their authority and harming or even killing someone, keep your freaking camera focused on the cop(s) and the victim!