Crowd-funding sites have raised more than $750,000 for numerous prosecution witnesses who testified in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
A GoFundMe account for 18-year-old Darnella Frazier has amassed more than $695,000, seeking to bring “peace and healing” to the witness. Frazier was 17 years old when she witnessed the arrest, detainment, and death of George Floyd.
The massive account was verified by Frazier’s mother LaTangie Gillespie to the Daily Mail.
“Darnella Frazier, the brave young woman who filmed the murder of George Floyd, deserves peace and healing,” the GoFundMe account for Frazier reads. “In addition to the trauma of watching a black man be murdered by police, she has had to deal with trolls, bullies and ignorant people harassing her online. It took unbelievable courage for her to stand there and bear witness to such an awful tragedy. We all have our roles to play in the revolution against white supremacy. Darnella played an important one and should be uplifted, not shamed.”
The account adds that our “country will never be the same” and that “in the midst of our rage and pain, we cannot let this young black woman become a casualty.”
“George Floyd paid the ultimate price of being black in this country. But let us not forget that a CHILD had to be the eyes for this nation. A CHILD paid the price of her innocence, her well-being, her hope, so that white people would start to wake the f-$& up. And people are going out of their way to break her spirit?!” the fundraiser continues. “Hell. Nawl. Nope. Not on my watch and not on yours.”
“White folks: You woke now? Stay woke. You mad? Stay mad. You care about Black Lives? Well we finna care about Darnella, too,” it says. “You can’t put a price on a child’s spirit. This fund is to support the healing and the restoration of hope for Darnella Frazier —whatever that means to her. There are many places in the movement where your resources are needed. This is one of them. Thank you.”
Witness Donald Williams has also reportedly snagged nearly $16,000 from a GoFundMe account set up for him by his cousin. Williams testified that Chauvin tried to choke out Floyd when he detained him. He was notably heard on the viral video of the arrest calling Chauvin a “f***ing bum.”
“My name is Shannon Davis and I am the cousin to Donald W. Williams II, I am trying to help him get his life back on track,” the account says.
“Donald W. Williams II is the young man who was pleading for George Floyd’s life in the now-viral video you all have heard his voice. Now is the time to help uplift him and his needs,” the account pleads. “He is an amazing father, son, brother, and cousin. He has been dramatically changed by this incident.”
“Donald did everything he could possibly do to help save George Floyd without causing harm to himself. He showed a drastic amount of restraint and concern,” reads the GoFundMe. “The system is dramatically broken and there needs to be changes in the way we as black people are seen in the world. There are people saying he didn’t do enough but we all seen he did do a tremendous amount of work to try and save Mr. Floyd.”
“Donald would like to get back to what he is used to doing which is being a mentor, coach, strong advocate for the community he comes from,” the fundraiser adds. “With these funds, he would like to start a community center for young African American boys. To teach them there is more to life than what is portrayed in the movies and video games.”
Another witness for the prosecution, Charles McMillians, has had some $9,000 donated to a GoFundMe account set up in his name by the witness’ son, The Daily Mail reported, noting of other accounts:
- $20,892 raised for a nine-year-old witness
- $16,673 raise for Cup Food’s store clerk Christopher Martin
- $712 raised for Maurice Hall, Floyd’s alleged drug dealer, who pleaded the Fifth Amendment and never testified before the jury
H/t The Daily Mail