US authorities charged former police officer Derek Chauvin with attempted murder after claiming that a fellow prisoner had stabbed him more than 20 times. Chauvin was attacked this month in the law library of an Arizona prison. Chauvin’s death of George Floyd in Minnesota in 2020 prompted widespread racial justice demonstrations.
Chauvin was attacked this month in the law library of an Arizona prison. Chauvin’s death of George Floyd in Minnesota in 2020 prompted widespread racial justice demonstrations.
After Chauvin was found guilty of killing the 46-year-old black man, on whose neck he had knelt for nine minutes, he was given a sentence of more than twenty years in jail.
According to the criminal complaint, 52-year-old suspect John Turscak informed authorities that the purpose of his attack on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, was to bring attention to the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Turscak told the corrections officers that he would have killed (Chauvin) had they not responded so quickly,” according to the lawsuit.
Turscak has been charged with attempted murder, assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and assault resulting in significant bodily damage, according to the US District Attorney’s Office in Tucson.
“Turscak stabbed another inmate, D.C., who had previously been convicted of federal crimes in another district, approximately 22 times with an improvised knife,” said a statement.
A maximum 20-year jail sentence is imposed for attempted murder.
Nothing further was known about Chauvin’s health.
Chauvin received a 22-and-a-half-year jail sentence after being found guilty in 2021 of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
The police news release that said that “officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress” was significantly different from the version of events that transpired after Mr. Floyd’s death, which was captured on camera.
A Justice Department probe into the Minneapolis police, the findings of which were published in June 2023, said that officers in the department routinely resorted to violent and racist practices, “including unjustified deadly force”.
The city of Minneapolis, in the midwestern state of Minnesota, also settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the Floyd family, agreeing to pay his relatives $27 million.
Chauvin unsuccessfully appealed his second-degree murder conviction.
According to the results of a Justice Department investigation against the Minneapolis police, which were released in June 2023, the department’s personnel frequently engaged in violent and discriminatory acts, “including unjustified deadly force”.
The Floyd family filed a wrongful death case against the city of Minneapolis in the midwestern state of Minnesota. The city agreed to pay his relatives $27 million as part of the settlement.
Chauvin’s appeal against his conviction for second-degree murder was unsuccessful.
