MINNEAPOLIS, MN - Law Enforcement Today recently reported on the stabbing of a 47-year-old inmate currently housed at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Tucson, Arizona, which according to the Associated Press (AP) has been identified as Derek Chauvin.
Chauvin is a former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of murdering George Floyd in March of 2020. A source familiar with the incident said that Chauvin was stabbed by another inmate and was seriously injured.
The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) confirmed that an inmate was assaulted at FCI around 12:30 p.m. on Friday, November 24th. In a statement, the BOP said that responding officers contained the incident and "performed life-saving measures" before the inmate, which the statement did not name, was taken to an outside hospital for further treatment.
In the days following the stabbing incident, an attorney for Chauvin said that the former police officer's family has been "kept in the dark" by federal prison officials about his status.
The attorney, Gregory M. Erickson attacked the lack of transparency by the BOP. Erickson said that Chauvin's family and his attorneys have hit a wall trying to obtain any information about the attack from BOP officials. He said that Chauvin's family has been "forced to assume" that he is in stable condition, going solely off news accounts.
They have tried contacting the prison repeatedly for some type of update, but have been given no information. Erickson said in a statement, "As an outsider, I view this lack of communication with his attorneys and family members as completely outrageous. It appears to be indicative of a poorly run facility and indicates how Derek's assault was allowed to happen."
FCI is a medium-security prison that has been suffering from staffing shortages. Chauvin's stabbing is the second high-profile attack on a federal inmate in the last five months. In July, disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar was stabbed by a fellow inmate at a federal prison in Florida.
When speaking about FCI and the BOP, Erickson said, "How the family members who are in charge of Derek's decisions regarding his personal medical care and his emergency contact were not informed after his stabbing further indicates the institution's poor procedures and lack of institutional control."
The BOP has still not publicly identified the victim in the stabbing at FCI or provide a medical status, citing "privacy and safety reasons." Terrance Floyd, George Floyd's brother told the AP that he wouldn't wish for anyone to be stabbed in prison.
When he initially heard the news he said, "I'm not going to give my energy towards anything that happens within those four walls because my energy went towards getting him in those four walls. Whatever happens in those four walls, I don't really have any feelings about it."
The BOP has faced increased scrutiny over the last few years following other high-profile incidents, including sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein's jail suicide back in 2019 and "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski's suicide at a federal medical center this past June.
One of Chauvin's lawyers, Eric Nelson, had advocated for keeping the former police officer out of general population and away from other inmates. Nelson had anticipated that he would be a target among the other inmates. While in Minnesota, Chauvin was mostly housed in solitary confinement, "largely for his own protection," Nelson noted.
A week prior to the stabbing, the United States Supreme Court rejected Chauvin's appeal of his murder conviction. Chauvin had made a bid to overturn his federal guilty plea, claiming new evidence showing he did not cause Floyd's death.
Chauvin is a former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of murdering George Floyd in March of 2020. A source familiar with the incident said that Chauvin was stabbed by another inmate and was seriously injured.
The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) confirmed that an inmate was assaulted at FCI around 12:30 p.m. on Friday, November 24th. In a statement, the BOP said that responding officers contained the incident and "performed life-saving measures" before the inmate, which the statement did not name, was taken to an outside hospital for further treatment.
In the days following the stabbing incident, an attorney for Chauvin said that the former police officer's family has been "kept in the dark" by federal prison officials about his status.
The attorney, Gregory M. Erickson attacked the lack of transparency by the BOP. Erickson said that Chauvin's family and his attorneys have hit a wall trying to obtain any information about the attack from BOP officials. He said that Chauvin's family has been "forced to assume" that he is in stable condition, going solely off news accounts.
They have tried contacting the prison repeatedly for some type of update, but have been given no information. Erickson said in a statement, "As an outsider, I view this lack of communication with his attorneys and family members as completely outrageous. It appears to be indicative of a poorly run facility and indicates how Derek's assault was allowed to happen."
FCI is a medium-security prison that has been suffering from staffing shortages. Chauvin's stabbing is the second high-profile attack on a federal inmate in the last five months. In July, disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar was stabbed by a fellow inmate at a federal prison in Florida.
When speaking about FCI and the BOP, Erickson said, "How the family members who are in charge of Derek's decisions regarding his personal medical care and his emergency contact were not informed after his stabbing further indicates the institution's poor procedures and lack of institutional control."
The BOP has still not publicly identified the victim in the stabbing at FCI or provide a medical status, citing "privacy and safety reasons." Terrance Floyd, George Floyd's brother told the AP that he wouldn't wish for anyone to be stabbed in prison.
When he initially heard the news he said, "I'm not going to give my energy towards anything that happens within those four walls because my energy went towards getting him in those four walls. Whatever happens in those four walls, I don't really have any feelings about it."
The BOP has faced increased scrutiny over the last few years following other high-profile incidents, including sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein's jail suicide back in 2019 and "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski's suicide at a federal medical center this past June.
One of Chauvin's lawyers, Eric Nelson, had advocated for keeping the former police officer out of general population and away from other inmates. Nelson had anticipated that he would be a target among the other inmates. While in Minnesota, Chauvin was mostly housed in solitary confinement, "largely for his own protection," Nelson noted.
A week prior to the stabbing, the United States Supreme Court rejected Chauvin's appeal of his murder conviction. Chauvin had made a bid to overturn his federal guilty plea, claiming new evidence showing he did not cause Floyd's death.
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Comments
2023-11-29T15:54-0700 | Comment by: Karen
Coincidence that Officer Chauvin was stabbed around the same time as a documentary, (The Fall of Minneapolis) proving his innocence was released. I don't think so. Hard for the lefty media and lefty court system to go back and say they were wrong and it was purely political. What are they afraid of another 2 billion in damages? #FreeChauvinNow