Derek Chauvin, the former Minnesota police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, was stabbed in prison.
Chauvin, 47, was seriously injured in the stabbing by a fellow inmate on Friday at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison issued a statement condemning the attack.
“I am sad to hear that Derek Chauvin was the target of violence,” the statement said. “He was duly convicted of his crimes and, like any incarcerated individual, he should be able to serve his sentence without fear of retaliation or violence.”
The Bureau of Prisons issued a statement without naming the inmate.
The statement said that on Friday at about 12:30 p.m., an incarcerated individual was assaulted at the Federal Correctional Institution. Responding employees initiated lifesaving measures for one incarcerated individual, the statement said. Emergency Medical Services were requested while lifesaving efforts continued before the inmate was transported to a hospital for further treatment and evaluation. No employees were injured, the statement said. His status was not made available.
His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Law&Crime.
Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck during a May 25, 2020 arrest for alleged use of a counterfeit $20. Floyd, who was prone and his arms handcuffed behind his back, cried out in pain, even calling for his late mother as he became increasingly unresponsive. Chauvin did not address the man’s pleas or those from outraged bystanders.
Chauvin was sentenced to 21 years after pleading guilty in a federal civil rights case and was serving concurrent sentences after he had been sentenced to 22 1/2 years in a state case for murder and manslaughter.
Derek Chauvin (in a Minnesota Department of Corrections mug shot), George Floyd (Image via attorney Ben Crump)
The Associated Press reported that Chauvin’s lawyer had advocated for keeping him out of the general population and away from other inmates. His lawyer wrote that his client had been kept in solitary confinement “largely for his own protection” while locked up in Minnesota, the wire service reported.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court refused Chauvin’s appeal, arguing there was no way he got a fair trial.
The death of Floyd, 46, prompted worldwide protests and calls for nationwide police reforms.
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