The teen was celebrated for 'highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists' quest for truth and justice.'
Darnella Frazier, the teenager who filmed the killing of George Floyd with her cellphone, won a special award this year from the Pulitzer Prize Board, the committee announced on Friday.
She was awarded a special citation "for courageously recording the murder of George Floyd, a video that spurred protests against police brutality around the world, highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists' quest for truth and justice."
Frazier was 17 when she recorded Floyd's fatal arrest last May by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. She had been walking with her 9-year-old cousin near Cup Foods at the time of his arrest, and recorded Chauvin as he kneeled on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes. Her evidence at the scene went viral and sparked widespread protests around the world.
"Everyone talks about the girl who recorded George Floyd's death, but to actually be her is a different story," Frazier said in a Facebook post a year after Floyd's death. "...It's a little easier now, but I'm not who I used to be. A part of my childhood was taken from me."
Following a trial earlier this year, a jury found Chauvin guilty on charges of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
This story was originally published by CBS News on June 11, 2021 at 2:32 p.m. ET.
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