The former Minneapolis police officer convicted for murdering George Floyd was stabbed and seriously injured by another inmate at an Arizona federal prison.
Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds in an event that sparked global outrage, was reportedly attacked at the medium-security Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, an anonymous source told the Associated Press.
The Bureau of Prisons only confirmed that an inmate at FCI Tucson was assaulted at approximately 12:30 p.m. local time on Friday. According to the agency, personnel promptly contained the incident and administered “life-saving measures” before transporting the unnamed inmate to a hospital for additional treatment and evaluation.
The 47-year-old Chauvin was transferred from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison to FCI Tucson in August 2022. This move occurred for Chauvin to fulfill concurrent sentences: a 21-year federal term for violating George Floyd’s civil rights and a 22½-year state sentence for second-degree murder.
Expressing concerns about Chauvin’s safety, his lawyer, Eric Nelson, lobbied for his client to be kept out of the general population and away from fellow inmates, anticipating potential threats. In Minnesota, Chauvin had spent the majority of his time in solitary confinement, primarily for his protection, as detailed in court documents filed by Nelson last year.
The Supreme Court recently rejected Chauvin’s appeal of his murder conviction. Chauvin is also looking to overturn his federal guilty plea, asserting that new evidence demonstrates he did not cause Floyd’s death.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
About Post Author
