Mugshot/Getty Derek Chauvin
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted in the death of George Floyd, is in stable condition after being stabbed in a federal prison, the Minnesota attorney general told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
On December 1, 2023, a federal indictment named the inmate as John Turscak, a former FBI information described in a 2001 Los Angeles Times article as a high-level Mexican Mafia gang leader. The indictment accuses Turscak of stabbing Chauvin 22 times in the prison law library, choosing “Black Friday” to represent the Black Lives Matter movement and Mexican Mafia’s “black hand” symbol.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told the Star-Tribune that Chauvin is not dead. Ellison directed the prosecution of Chauvin. CNN also confirmed through a source that Chauvin is alive and was stabbed in the Arizona prison on November 24, 2023.
Conflicting reports hit social media about Chauvin’s condition, including about whether he was dead or alive. A New York state legislator, Ben Geller, wrote in a post on X that Chauvin was dead. He deleted the post, however.
News broke on November 24, 2023, that Chauvin, 47, had been seriously injured after being stabbed by another inmate. The Associated Press first broke the story.
His attorney, Bill Mohrman, told the Minnesota site Alpha News, “We have attempted to contact the Bureau of Prisons regarding the media reports regarding Mr. Chauvin and we have not heard back.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Derek Chauvin Is in Stable Condition, the Minnesota AG Says
GettyPeople gather in a Manhattan park to protest on the first day of the trial for the killing of George Floyd last May on March 08, 2021 in New York City./Derek Chauvin’s mugshot.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported reported that Ellison told the newspaper on November 24, 2023, that “he was notified that Chauvin had been stabbed but survived and was in stable condition.”
“I am sad to hear that Derek Chauvin was the target of violence,” Ellison said to the Star-Tribune. “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 AP story did not reveal Chauvin’s condition, and the federal Bureau of Prisons has not either. However, CNN also confirmed through its source that Chauvin is in stable condition. According to CNN, FBI officials told the network they were “aware of an assault that happened at the federal prison on Friday,” but would not identify the inmate.
The federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed in a news release emailed to Heavy that “an incarcerated individual” was assaulted “at the Tucson prison at approximately 12:30 p.m.,” Friday but would not confirm the inmate’s identity. CNN verified the AP’s report that the injured inmate was Chauvin, through two sources.
Chauvin’s mother, Carolyn Pawlenty, told the Minnesota site Alpha News that she has been kept in the dark about the stabbing.
“I can’t even think what to say. I haven’t been to bed and made a path in my kitchen and living room floor by pacing. I am worried and scared,” Pawlenty said to the site, which recently published a documentary that included an interview with Chauvin.
“How the hell do these news agencies know and his own mother doesn’t even know? And that [prison] has an emergency contact number [for me],” Pawlenty said to Alpha News.
“I have to stay strong for Derek as he does for me. There is no stronger love than a mother’s love,” she added.
The Associated Press Reported That ‘Life-Saving Measures’ Were Performed on Derek Chauvin
TwitterDerek Chauvin.
The AP report was based on an anonymous source and details in it were sparse. The inmate’s name is not known, and the circumstances of the stabbing were not clear either. Nor was the exact nature of Chauvin’s injuries.
The AP did report that “life-saving measures” ended in Chauvin being taken to the hospital “for further treatment and evaluation.”
Chauvin is housed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate database. It says that the facility is a “medium security federal correctional institution with a detention center.” The database says that Chauvin, 47, has a release date of May 7, 2038.
Heavy has contacted the Bureau of Prisons and the Tucson prison for additional details.
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