Special Pulitzer Prize for the young woman who filmed the murder of George Floyd

Darnella Frazier, an 18-year-old who filmed the arrest and murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the end of May 2020, was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize on Friday, the most prestigious awards for journalism in the United States. The Pulitzer jury paid tribute to the one who had gone out that day to run an errand and found herself in front of the stage, for having "bravely recorded the murder of George Floyd, a video which generated protests against police brutality around the world ".

This "underlines the crucial role of citizens in journalists' quest for truth and justice," the jury continued.

"I did not know this man (…), but I knew that his life counted", wrote Darnella Frazier on her Facebook page on the occasion of the first anniversary of the death of George Floyd, on May 25.

“It changed me,” she continued.

"It changed my outlook on life. It made me realize how dangerous it is to be black in America."

Several awards for the

New York Times

In the "last minute" category (breaking news), it was the editorial staff of the

, a local daily in the city where George Floyd was assassinated on May 25, which won for its "urgent, benchmark coverage. and nuanced ". Reuters was co-crowned in the explanatory journalism category for a multimedia project dubbed "Shielded" which shows how a half-century-old case law protects American police officers from prosecution or conviction in many blunders.

In local journalism, two

reporters

were honored for a series of articles on the practices of the Pasco County Sheriff in Florida, who abused his power by harassing people he said could 'break the law. Another major topic of 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has won Pulitzer Prizes for the

in the public service category and

magazine reporter

Ed Young for explanatory journalism. Notably, the presidential campaign, the election, the transition and the events of January 6 are not among the subjects awarded.