Derek Chauvin, former Minneapolis police officer He was convicted of killing George FloydHe was stabbed by another inmate and seriously injured Friday at a federal prison in Arizona, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The attack occurred at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, a medium-security prison plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages. The person was not authorized to discuss details of the attack publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
The Bureau of Prisons has confirmed that an incarcerated person was assaulted at the FCI Center in Tucson around 12:30 p.m. local time on Friday. The agency said in a statement that staff contained the incident and took “life-saving measures” before transporting the inmate, who was not named, to the hospital for further treatment and evaluation.
The Bureau of Prisons said no employees were injured and the FBI has been notified. Visitation has been suspended at the facility, which houses about 380 inmates.
Messages seeking comment were left with Chauvin’s attorney and the FBI.
Chauvin’s stabbing is the second major attack on a federal prisoner in the past five months. In July, Disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar was stabbed by a fellow inmate In a federal prison in Florida.
This is also the second major incident at Tucson federal prison in just over a year. In November 2022, an inmate at the facility’s low-security prison camp He pulled out a gun and tried to shoot a visitor in the head. The weapon, which should not have been in the intimate partner’s possession, was improperly discharged and no one was injured.
Chauvin was 47 years old Sent to FCI Tucson from Minnesota maximum security state prison in August 2022 to serve a 21-year federal sentence concurrently For violating Floyd’s civil rights He ruled the state for 22 and a half years Charged with second-degree murder.
Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, had called for him to be kept away from the general public and away from other inmates, anticipating he would be a target. In Minnesota, it was Chauvin He is mainly held in solitary confinement “Largely for his own protection,” Nelson wrote in court papers last year.
last week, The US Supreme Court rejected Chauvin’s appeal To convict him of murder. Separately, Chauvin is doing work A far-reaching attempt to overturn his federal guilty pleaClaiming that new evidence shows that he did not cause Floyd’s death.
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd was suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.
A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” His death sparked protests around the world, some of which turned violent, and forced protests National reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Three other former officers who were at the scene received a smaller amount State and federal provisions For their role in Floyd’s death.
Chauvin’s appeal comes as the federal Bureau of Prisons has faced increased scrutiny in recent years Rich financier Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in prison in 2019. This is another example of the agency’s inability to keep high-profile prisoners safe after Nassar’s stabbing and arrest. “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski’s suicide at Federal Medical Center in June.
that AP ongoing investigation It exposed deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department’s largest law enforcement agency with more than 30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates and an annual budget of about $8 billion.
AP reports revealed Rampant sexual assault And Other criminal behavior by employees, Dozens of exhaustsChronic violence and deaths Severe staff shortage which has Impeded emergency responseincluding intimate assaults and suicide.
The director of the Bureau of Prisons was Colette Peters He was brought in last year to fix the crisis-hit agency. She pledged to change outdated hiring practices and bring new transparency, emphasizing that the agency’s mission is to “make good neighbors, not good inmates.”
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September, Peters It touted the steps it had taken to reform problematic prisons and strengthening internal affairs investigations. This month, she told the House Judiciary Subcommittee that staffing has improved and new hires are outpacing retirements and other departures.
But Peters also angered lawmakers who said she had reneged on her promise to be frank and open with them. In September, senators rebuked her for forcing them to wait more than a year for answers to written questions and for claiming that she I couldn’t answer basic questions about the agency’s operationssuch as the number of correctional officers on staff.
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Associated Press writers Amy Forliti in Minneapolis and Michael Balsamo in New York contributed to this report.
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Follow Michael Sisak at x.com/mikesisak And send confidential tips by visiting https://www.ap.org/tips/.
