Convicted of murder in 2022, this former veteran Minneapolis police officer was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison.
As indicated Associated Press, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, convicted of causing the death of George Floyd in May 2020, was seriously injured after being stabbed Friday in a federal prison. The death of George Floyd sparked a vast protest movement against racial discrimination and police violence.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which administers federal prisons in the United States, said a prisoner was attacked at the federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, but did not confirm that it was Derek Chauvin.
The American federal prison authorities sent a statement to AFP confirming an “assault” without specifying the name of the victim.
Prison employees “took action to save the life of an incarcerated person” and emergency medical services “were requested,” they said. The detainee was transported “to a local hospital for treatment and examination,” they added.
Appeal rejected by the Supreme Court
On May 25, 2020, the white police officer, a seasoned Minneapolis police officer, remained kneeling on the neck of the black forty-year-old for nearly ten minutes, indifferent to the interventions of shocked passers-by and the groans of George Floyd. Two other police officers helped hold him down.
The scene, filmed and posted online, sparked huge demonstrations against racism and police violence throughout the United States and beyond.
Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder by the Minnesota state courts following a closely watched trial in 2021 and sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison.
The United States Supreme Court last week rejected Derek Chauvin’s appeal against this conviction.
Derek Chauvin had also pleaded guilty to “violations of the civil rights” of George Floyd before a federal judge and received another sentence in 2022, 21 years in prison.