Prosecutors Say Ex-Officer Derek Chauvin Was Stabbed 22 Times in Prison Attack, Inmate Charged with Attempted Murder

Friday, a federal inmate was charged with attempted murder in connection with the prison stabbing of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer convicted of killing George Floyd.

Prosecutors say John Turscak stabbed Chauvin 22 times with an improvised knife in the law library at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona. Chauvin is there serving concurrent sentences, including a 21-year federal sentence for violating George Floyd’s civil rights and a 22½-year state sentence for second-degree murder.

Along with attempted murder, Turscak faces charges of assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

According to the Associated Press, Turscak told authorities that he assaulted Chauvin on Black Friday, the day following Thanksgiving,  a symbolic connection to the Black Lives Matter movement and the “Black Hand” symbol linked to the Mexican Mafia gang, prosecutors revealed.

While Turscak initially claimed he would have killed Chauvin if authorities hadn’t intervened swiftly, he later told FBI agents that although he had considered assaulting the former officer, he denied any intention of killing him.