Derek Chauvin, the former US police officer whose actions led to widespread racial justice protests in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd, was stabbed in prison on Friday, as per sources cited by the New York Times.
Chauvin infamously knelt on the neck of the 46-year-old Black man for over nine minutes on a Minneapolis street despite Floyd’s desperate pleas. Floyd’s haunting words, “I can’t breathe,” became a rallying cry for demonstrators globally who protested in response to the killing.
The US Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed an assault at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Tucson in Arizona without specifying the individual harmed. They mentioned responding staff administering immediate aid and transferring the injured individual to a local hospital for further care.
Despite the attack, Chauvin reportedly survived, as indicated by a source mentioned in the New York Times article.
Chauvin had been convicted in 2021 on charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter, resulting in a sentence of 22 and a half years in prison.
The incident was captured on video, presenting a starkly different narrative from the initial police statement that merely mentioned the suspect being placed in handcuffs while seeming to experience medical distress.
A Department of Justice investigation into the Minneapolis police, released in June 2023, revealed a pattern of violent and racist practices, including unwarranted use of lethal force.
Additionally, the city of Minneapolis, located in Minnesota, settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the Floyd family, agreeing to a $27 million payment to his relatives.