Mike Sisak of the AP reported that Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty in the 2020 death of 46-year-old George Floyd, has been stabbed in federal prison.
According to an Associated Press story, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who entered a guilty plea to federal charges in the 2020 death of 46-year-old George Floyd while under his custody, was stabbed and critically injured by another prisoner on Friday. Chauvin, 47, is currently serving concurrent terms of more than 20 years on both federal and state offenses after being found guilty on state charges in Minnesota as well.
A look at George Floyd’s profile as per court documents reads like a career criminal involved in drug abuse, theft, criminal trespassing, and aggravated robbery as well as entering a woman’s home and pointing a gun at her stomach while looking for drugs and money.
Chauvin is in stable condition, according to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who spoke with CNN (excerpt):
The attorney general’s office, which prosecuted Chauvin in the Floyd case, said early Saturday that it was notified of the assault and told Chauvin is in stable condition.
“I am sad to hear that Derek Chauvin was the target of violence,” Ellison said, according to the statement provided to CNN. “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.”
The initial story on Chauvin’s stabbing came from Mike Sisak of the AP:
BREAKING: Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, was stabbed by another inmate and seriously injured Friday at a federal prison in Arizona, a person familiar with the matter told aP.
Mike Sisak (@mikesisak) November 25, 2023
Chauvin was sent to a hospital, according to the AP report, after obtaining “life-saving measures” (excerpt):
The attack happened at the Federal Correctional Institution, Tucson, a medium-security prison that has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the attack and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
The Bureau of Prisons confirmed that an incarcerated person was assaulted at FCI Tucson at around 12:30 p.m. local time Friday. In a statement, the agency said responding employees contained the incident and performed “life-saving measures” before the inmate, who it did not name, was taken to a hospital for further treatment and evaluation.
…Chauvin, 47, was sent to FCI Tucson from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison in August 2022 to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a 22½-year state sentence for second-degree murder.
Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric Nelson, had advocated for keeping him out of general population and away from other inmates, anticipating he’d be a target. In Minnesota, Chauvin was mainly kept in solitary confinement “largely for his own protection,” Nelson wrote in court papers last year.
Chauvin appealed his conviction in state court in Minnesota, but the Supreme Court rejected his case on Monday (CNN excerpt):
The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murder in the 2020 killing of George Floyd.
Chauvin was found guilty in April 2021 of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death. He was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison – which exceeded Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines range of 10 years and eight months to 15 years.
Chauvin later pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights and was sentenced to 21 years in prison to run concurrently with his state sentence.
…Chauvin claimed in his appeal against conviction he had not received a fair trial because jurors in his case may have had a vested interest against acquitting, out of fear of instigating more street protests and violence.
Chauvin filed an appeal of his federal conviction, according to a report this week from CBS News (excerpt):
Chauvin is now seeking to overturn his conviction on the federal charge, arguing in a filing last week that he wouldn’t have pleaded guilty had he been aware of the theories of a Kansas-based pathologist who does not believe Floyd died as a result of Chauvin’s actions.
Collin Rugg reports that Chauvin was quoted this week in a new documentary contesting the basis for his conviction:
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JUST IN: Derek Chauvin is calling his trial a “sham” while speaking out to the media in his first public comments since the death of George Floyd.
The comments from Chauvin is featured as part of a new documentary, The Fall of Minneapolis.
The documentary suggests the FBI altered Floyd’s autopsy as noted by the film’s producer, Liz Collin.
Collin suggests the FBI was involved with altering the autopsy report to assert that Chauvin killed Floyd by kneeling while the original report did not mention asphyxiation.
During an interview with Collin, Chauvin called the trial a “sham” and blamed the ambulance for taking too long to respond to the call.
Chauvin also referred to the Maximal Restraint Technique (MRT), the technique he was trained to do and claims he used.
“This isn’t the end and this won’t define me. What’s been done is done and I just hope that at the very least on the future people keep an open mind and not let instances like this happen,” he said.
“Just use my case an example as to not jump the gun knee jerk, not fall to this race-bait, to the social media, to the media, and let them get away with what they do if things like this keep happening.”
