Derek Chauvin expected to survive prison stabbing: officials

Derek Chauvin, the ex-Minneapolis police officer who murdered George Floyd, is expected to survive a prison stabbing, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office said Saturday.

Chauvin was stabbed Friday at a federal prison in Tucson, Ariz., The Associated Press first reported. He was seriously injured in the knife attack, the AP said.

A spokesperson for the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office said Chauvin is expected to survive following the attack, NBC News reported.

On Friday, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) confirmed that a person had been attacked at the Tucson prison at about 12:30 p.m. and was taken to medical facilities. The BOP did not disclose the victim’s identity.

Attorney Gregory Erickson, who represented Chauvin in a civil case, said that neither he nor members of Chauvin’s family have been provided updates about his condition.

“As an outsider, I view this lack of communication with his attorneys and family members as completely outrageous,” Erickson said in a statement. “It appears to be indicative of a poorly run facility and indicates how Derek’s assault was allowed to happen.”

“Although Derek’s family assumes he is stable because of a third-party report (not direct contact), they are understandably doubtful because of the lack of transparency that has permeated this ordeal,” he continued.

The AP reported that the Tuscon facility was notorious for lapses in security and staffing problems.

Chauvin was assigned to the prison in August 2022 to serve simultaneous 21-year sentences for violating Floyd’s civil rights and for second-degree murder. 

Floyd’s killing in May 2020 sparked mass protests and a reckoning over police treatment of Black people.

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal of Chauvin’s murder conviction last week.