Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of the 2020 George Floyd murder, had been stabbed and seriously injured by another inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona, where he is serving simultaneous 21- and 22.5-year federal and state sentences for violating Floyd’s civil rights and second-degree murder.
The Associated Press broke the news last night. New York Times and other new organizations have also reported on the stabbing.
In a statement, the Bureau of Prisons said an unnamed inmate was assaulted around 12:30 p.m. Friday and that responding employees contained the incident and they, along with EMS, performed “life-saving measures” before taking the inmate to a hospital for further treatment. No staff or other inmates were injured in the stabbing, and the FBI has been notified.
Sources told ABC News Chauvin is in stable condition and is expected to survive.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who was the lead prosecutor in the state’s case against Chauvin, told the Star Tribune he, too, had been informed that Chauvin was stabbed. “I am sad to hear that Derek Chauvin was the target of violence,” Ellison 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.”
According to AP’s report, the medium-security prison has been plagued by security issues and staffing shortages. This is the second major incident at this location in the last year. In November 2022, an inmate at the facility’s low-security prison camp pulled an illegal gun and attempted to shoot a visitor in the head. The weapon misfired and no one was hurt.
This is also the second time in as many weeks that Chauvin has been in the news. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Chauvin’s appeal of his murder conviction. Separately, Reuters reports that Chauvin filed a motion to overturn that conviction based on what he claims is new evidence showing Floyd’s death was the result of an underlying medical condition—not from Chauvin pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly 10 minutes.
Thoughts and prayers, as they say.
Kendra Lee is a writer based just outside Washington, D.C.