On Friday, US prosecutors announced attempted murder charges against a fellow inmate who allegedly stabbed Derek Chauvin, the disgraced former police officer, more than 20 times with a weapon.
Last month, Derek Chauvin, the individual whose actions in Minnesota triggered widespread racial justice protests following the killing of George Floyd in 2020, was assaulted in an Arizona prison’s law library.
Following his conviction in the murder case of a 46-year-old Black man, Derek Chauvin was sentenced to more than two decades, a consequence of his actions involving kneeling on the man’s neck for nine minutes.
According to the criminal complaint, John Turscak, aged 52 and the suspect in question, revealed to investigators that he deliberately chose Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, for his attack to symbolically connect with the Black Lives Matter movement.
‘Turscak told the corrections officers that he would have killed (Chauvin) had they not responded so quickly,’ the complaint says.
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The US District Attorney’s Office in Tucson said it had charged Turscak with attempted murder, assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.
‘Turscak stabbed another inmate, D.C., who had previously been convicted of federal crimes in another district, approximately 22 times with an improvised knife,’ a statement said.
While neither the statement nor the complaint give Chauvin’s full name, an official source confirmed to AFP that it was the former Minneapolis police officer. Attempted murder carries a sentence of up to 20 years’ prison.
No updates on Derek Chauvin’s condition were provided.
In 2021, Derek Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter, resulting in a 22-and-a-half-year prison term.
The incident was caught on video — providing a drastically different version of events than the initial police news release, which simply stated ‘officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress.’
A Justice Department probe into the Minneapolis police, the findings of which were published in June 2023, said that officers in the department routinely resorted to violent and racist practices, ‘including unjustified deadly force.’
In the midwestern state of Minnesota, the city of Minneapolis settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the Floyd family, committing to a payment of $27 million to his relatives.
The second-degree murder conviction appeal by Derek Chauvin ended without success.