The inmate accused of assaulting Derek Chauvin, the former police officer convicted in George Floyd’s killing, reportedly stabbed him around 22 times using an improvised knife in an attack the Arizona inmate had been planning for approximately a month, according to court documents.
As per the federal complaint, at approximately 12:30 p.m. local time on November 24, Chauvin was in the law library at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson when John Turscak, 52, attacked him, causing serious bodily injury.
Turscak, facing charges of attempted murder, informed corrections officers that he would have killed Chauvin had they not responded swiftly, according to the complaint.
Turscak faces three additional charges, including assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.
Chauvin’s attorney, Gregory M. Erickson, stated Sunday that Chauvin was being treated at a local hospital’s trauma care facility and has since been returned to prison custody for follow-up care as his condition improved.
Chauvin confirmed to his family that the events described in the complaint are accurate, but it remains unclear how the alleged attacker obtained the materials for the improvised knife.
Chauvin is serving concurrent sentences for Floyd’s 2020 murder, receiving a 22-and-a-half-year sentence in April 2021 on state charges and pleading guilty to federal charges later, resulting in a 21-year prison sentence. Floyd’s death in May 2020 triggered widespread protests against racial injustice and police treatment of Black Americans.
A 2022 Minnesota Department of Human Rights investigation found a pattern of race discrimination in the city and its police department.
