TUCSON, Ariz. — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murdering George Floyd, was stabbed Friday at a federal prison in Arizona, sources told The Associated Press.
Update 3:09 p.m. EST Nov. 25: “We have heard that he is expected to survive,” a spokesman for the Minnesota attorney general’s office Brian Evans said on Saturday, according to The Associated Press.
“I am sad to hear that Derek Chauvin was the target of violence. 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,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement obtained by the AP.
Original story: The attack happened Friday at around 12:30 p.m. at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, the AP reported. Chauvin was seriously injured.
The source spoke with the AP on the condition of anonymity because they were not publicly allowed to share details of the attack.
In a statement obtained by the AP, the Bureau of Prisons said that employees who responded to the incident contained the area and performed “life-saving measures” prior to the inmate being taken to the hospital. The agency did not name the inmate.
Chauvin was sent to the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson in August 2022 from a maximum-security state prison in Minnesota. He was given a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights, the AP reported. He was also given a 22½-year state sentence for second-degree murder.
Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin pressed on his neck for 9½ minutes on a street by a convenience store in Minneapolis. A bystander recovered video of the incident and of Floyd saying “I can’t breathe.” His death led to protests around the world, the AP said.
Earlier this week, Chauvin’s appeal on his murder conviction was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, according to the AP.
The AP reported that it left messages with Chauvin’s attorneys and the FBI following the attack. They have yet to respond.
In the last five months, Chauvin’s stabbing is the second high-profile attack on a federal prisoner. According to the AP, former sports doctor Larry Nasser was stabbed by an inmate last July.
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