Social media users on Wednesday are sharing videos posted by Ma’Khia Bryant before her death.
The Ohio teen rose to national attention this week after she was shot by Columbus police on Tuesday during an incident that is being probed by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, according to NPR.
Body camera footage of the incident released by police has been widely shared online. Many social media users indicated they wanted to honor Bryant by sharing videos of her while alive, rather than the violent footage of her death.
“This is how we want to remember #MakhiaBryant. Joyful. Beautiful. Adorable,” wrote the social justice group Until Freedom on Instagram.
Newsweek reported that videos from Bryant’s TikTok channel have been shared more than 1 million times over the last day. She mainly posted hair tutorials.
One tweet that captured one of Bryant’s TikToks posted on Tuesday night has been viewed on Twitter more than 2 million times as of Wednesday afternoon.
“#makhiabryant deserved to be alive and happy with her family #SayHerName #BlackLivesMatter,” reads the post, which has also been shared thousands of times.
Bryant was shot moments before the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, according to NPR. Floyd’s death last year set off a wave of protests over police-involved shootings of Black Americans.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) linked Bryant’s death to Floyd’s in a tweet and wrote that Bryant “should be alive right now.”