Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the murder of George Floyd in 2020, was stabbed Friday in a federal prison in Arizona, according to the Associated Press and The New York Times.
According to a source close to the situation, Chauvin was assaulted Friday at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson and was in stable condition.
“An incarcerated individual” was assaulted at the Tucson prison at approximately 12:30 p.m., the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement Friday. Two sources confirmed to CNN that the individual was Chauvin.
“Responding employees initiated life-saving measures for one incarcerated individual,” and that person was transferred to a hospital for treatment, the bureau’s statement said. “No employees were injured during the incident,” the statement said.
Derek Chauvin was stabbed and is in stable condition
According to CNN, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office prosecuted Chauvin in the George Floyd case, was notified that Chauvin was stabbed and is in stable condition.
“I am sad to hear that Derek Chauvin was the target of violence,” Ellison said in a release from his office. “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.”
Chauvin was convicted in April 2021 on state charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. He received a sentence of 22 and a half years in prison. Months later, Chauvin pleaded guilty to federal civil rights violations and was sentenced to 21 years in prison.
Floyd’s death sparked massive racial injustice protests across the country
On May 25, 2020, Chauvin, a white man, knelt on Floyd’s neck and back for more than 9 minutes after officers responded to reports that Floyd had used a counterfeit $20 at a Minneapolis corner store. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was handcuffed and face-down on the street, pleading that he couldn’t breathe.
Floyd’s death sparked massive racial injustice protests across the country and around the world, highlighting how police treat people of color, particularly black Americans, in the United States. An investigation by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights revealed that Minneapolis and its police department engaged in “a pattern or practice of race discrimination,” according to a 2022 report.
Earlier this week, the US Supreme Court denied Chauvin’s appeal on his state conviction, claiming he was not given a fair trial. Without comment or a recorded vote, the high court dismissed Chauvin’s appeal.