The Pulitzer Prizes awarded Darnella Frazier with a special citation for courageously capturing the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police on Friday.
Darnella Frazier won the 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,” according to the Pulitzer Prize Board.

While Frazier is not a professional journalist, the brave act of shed light upon ongoing police brutality and injustice by recording such an event is what the Pulitzer Prize stands for; the quest for truth and justice.
The video evidence she recorded on her cellphone that day aided the trial against ex-police officer Derek Chauvin along with other officers involved and had sparked a global outcry against police brutality.
The staff of the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize “for its urgent, authoritative and nuanced coverage of the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis and of the reverberations that followed.”
The winning works:
- Minneapolis police, protesters clash almost 24 hours after George Floyd’s death in custody By Libor Jany
- As Mayor Frey calls for officer’s arrest, violence intensifies in Minneapolis By Liz Navratil and Libor Jany
- Man who died in police incident was good friend and like family to his boss, others By Paul Walsh
- Interactive: One week in Minneapolis
- Video: Violent night in Minneapolis: Businesses looted, burned
- Twin Cities businesses reel from the nights of violence while on guard for more By Jackie Crosby and Kavita Kumar
- Minneapolis’ Third Precinct served as ‘playground’ for renegade cops By Libor Jany and Andy Mannix