Derek Chauvin, the former US police officer who was convicted of murdering George Floyd in a brutal case that sparked worldwide protests against racism and police brutality, was stabbed by another inmate in a federal prison in Arizona on Friday, according to a report by the New York Times.
The Times, citing unnamed sources, said that Chauvin, who is white, was attacked with a makeshift knife by a fellow prisoner at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, where he is serving a 22-and-a-half-year sentence for killing Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes in Minneapolis in May 2020.
The report said that Chauvin suffered multiple stab wounds and was rushed to a local hospital for treatment. His condition was not immediately known.
The US Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed to AFP that there was an assault at the prison, but did not identify the victim or the assailant.
“Responding employees initiated life-saving measures for one incarcerated individual,” the bureau said in a statement. “The incarcerated individual was transported… to a local hospital for further treatment and evaluation.”
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Chauvin’s murder of Floyd, which was captured on video by a bystander, sparked a global outcry and massive demonstrations against racial injustice and police violence in the US and around the world. Floyd’s repeated plea of “I can’t breathe” became a rallying cry for the protesters.
Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in April 2021, after a high-profile trial that was closely watched by millions of people. He was the first white officer in Minnesota to be convicted of killing a Black civilian.
He appealed his conviction to the US Supreme Court, but the court rejected his petition earlier this month. In a recent documentary, he claimed that his trial and sentencing were “a sham” and that he was a scapegoat for a “broken system”.
Chauvin’s case also prompted a federal investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department, which found that the department had a pattern of using excessive and discriminatory force, especially against Black and Native American people. The Justice Department said in June 2023 that the department “unlawfully discriminates against Black and Native American people when enforcing the law”.
The city of Minneapolis also agreed to pay $27 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Floyd’s family, the largest pre-trial settlement in a civil rights case in US history.
Chauvin’s former colleagues described him as a silent, rigid and workaholic cop who often worked in the city’s toughest areas. He received four medals for his service, but also faced 22 internal complaints and investigations, most of which were dismissed without any disciplinary action. The only exception was a letter of reprimand he received for violently pulling a white woman out of her car for speeding in 2007, in front of her crying baby.