Derek Chauvin, the white former police officer convicted of the murder of African-American George Floyd, was stabbed 22 times in prison, revealed court documents released in recent hours that specified the magnitude of the attack that occurred last week.
The attack was perpetrated on November 24 in the library of the federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, where Chauvin is serving more than 20 years of his sentence for the death of Floyd, whom he held to the ground, crushing his neck and preventing him from breathing for nine minutes. , in Minneapolis in 2020.
John Turscak, who must now answer for attempted murder, among other charges, attacked Chauvin with an “improvised knife, approximately 22 times, causing serious bodily injuries,” according to the complaint released last night.
Although the document refers to the victim by his initials for legal reasons, an official source confirmed to the AFP news agency that it is Chauvin.
“Turscak told prison officers that he would have killed DC if they had not reacted quickly,” prosecutors in the case added.
“Turscak said he had thought about attacking DC for about a month, because he was a high-profile inmate,” they added.
The attack occurred last Black Friday, the traditional auction day in the United States after the Thanksgiving Day celebration.
“Turscak said the attack on DC on Black Friday was symbolic of the Black Lives Matter movement,” prosecutors said.
Chauvin received immediate attention and was transported to a local hospital. Although he survived the attack, there is no additional information about his condition.
The police officer was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in 2021, and sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison.
Floyd’s death, which was caught on video, sparked a wave of protests and helped fuel an important discussion about racism and policing in the United States and around the world.
A subsequent Justice Department investigation into the Minneapolis Police, whose findings were released in June 2023, stated that its officers routinely resorted to violent and racist practices, “including unjustified deadly force.”
Minneapolis, in the Midwestern state of Minnesota, also settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the Floyd family and agreed to pay $27 million.
Chauvin appealed his second-degree murder conviction, but his appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court earlier this month.
“At the end of the day, the entire trial, including the sentencing, was a farce,” he declared from prison in a recent documentary.
At his sentencing hearing he spoke little, but he offered his condolences to the Floyd family.
Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric Nelson, had said that his client “exuded a calm and professional demeanor” in his interactions with Floyd, and tried to convince the jury that the former police officer applied an authorized restraint consistent with his training.
But the Prosecutor’s Office successfully argued that Chauvin had used excessive force, not only with Floyd, but with other people he detained during his 19-year career.
Before the trial, the Prosecutor’s Office found several examples of his “modus operandi”, including the case of Zoya Code, a young black woman detained by Chauvin in 2017.
“Even though the woman was not physically resisting in any way, Chauvin knelt over her body, using his body weight to pin her to the ground,” prosecutors said.
After the killing, colleagues described Chauvin as a quiet, rigid workaholic who often patrolled the city’s toughest neighborhoods.
His commitment to service earned him four medals throughout his career. But he also accumulated 22 complaints and internal investigations, according to a public record purged of all details.
Source: Ambito
