Man charged with stabbing Derek Chauvin 22 times in prison: DOJ

(TUCSON, Ariz.) — An inmate at FCI Tucson has been charged with allegedly stabbing Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd, according to the Justice Department.

Chauvin was allegedly stabbed 22 times by 52-year-old John Turscak on Nov. 24.

Turscak was charged with attempted murder after he allegedly used a knife he crafted to stab him.

Chauvin was not named in the complaint and only appears as “DC,” but a law enforcement source confirmed he was the one who was attacked.

Turscak allegedly approached Chauvin while he was in the law library and stabbed him. He allegedly told officers that if they hadn’t responded so quickly he would’ve killed him.

However, after he waived his Miranda rights, he said something different, officials said.

“At that time, TURSCAK denied wanting to kill D.C. However, TURSCAK stated that he had been thinking about assaulting D.C. for approximately one month because D.C. is a high-profile inmate. TURSCAK stated he saw an opportunity to assault D.C. in the law library,” the complaint says. “Turscak stated that his attack of D.C. on Black Friday was symbolic with the Black Lives Matter movement and the Mexican Mafia criminal organization. D.C. received emergency medical treatment for his injuries at a local hospital.”

Chauvin was listed in stable condition in the days after the stabbing and officials said he would recover.

Turscak pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiring to kill a gang rival after previously working as an FBI informant against the Mexican Mafia organization, according to The Los Angeles Times. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2001.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who led the prosecution of Chauvin on state charges, said in a statement after the stabbing that he was “sad to hear that Derek Chauvin was the target of violence.”

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“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,” Ellison said.

Chauvin has been serving a state and federal sentence at FCI Tucson in the death of Floyd, a Black man who died while in police custody on May 25, 2020.

Floyd’s death triggered a string of racial reckoning in the country and months of protests across the country.

ABC News’ Pierre Thomas and Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.

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