Derek Chauvin Back in Prison Custody Following Attempt on His Life
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is serving prison time for the murder of George Floyd, has returned to custody after receiving medical treatment for injuries he sustained in his recent stabbing on November 24, in an Arizona federal prison.
Chauvin’s attorney Gregory M. Erickson shared in a statement to , “Derek’s family confirmed that his medical condition has improved to the extent that he has been removed from the trauma care facility at a local Tucson hospital and returned to prison custody for his follow-up care.”
Chavin, 47, was stabbed by fellow inmate John Turscak, 22 times on November 24 while in the law library of the Tucson Federal Correctional Institution. The stabbing occurred around 12:30 pm CST. On December 1, Turscak, 52, was charged with attempted murder, assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.
The former Mexican Mafia gang leader turned FBI informant, is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder charges in 2001. Turscak reportedly told investigators he had been planning the attack for months and carried out the attack on Black Friday in symbolic connection to the Black Lives Matter movement and the Black Hand symbol associated with the Mexican Mafia. The charges against Turscak could add an additional 20 years onto his lengthy prison sentence.
Erickson added that Chauvin’s family “is very concerned about the facility’s capacity to protect Derek from further harm” and that “they remain unassured that any changes have been made to the faulty procedures that allowed Derek’s attack to occur in the first place.”
Chauvin, who is serving a 21-year-federal prison sentence on civil rights violations charges and also a 22-year state sentence for Floyd’s murder was previously transferred from solitary confinement in a Minnesota State Prison with authorities citing safety issues as a result of potential retaliation by inmates Chauvin may have previously interacted with while serving as a police officer in the same state.
Meanwhile, Erickson says security for his client remains a serious concern because of the lack of protocols to protect Chauvin’s safety, noting “it remains a mystery how the perpetrator was able to obtain and possess dangerous materials that were able to be formed into an improvised knife, and how a guard was unable to reach and apprehend the perpetrator until Derek had been stabbed 22 times," according to the .However, the Federal Bureau of Prisons had no comment on the matter, according to officials.
