The prison inmate charged with stabbing Derek Chavuin, who is George Floyd’s murderer, allegedly tried to draw a connection between the date and the men’s separate histories. John Turscak, 52, attacked Chauvin in the law library of Federal Correctional Institution Tucson on Black Friday, Nov. 24, the FBI said in a complaint.
“Turscak stated that his attack of D.C. on Black Friday was symbolic with the Black Lives Matter movement and the ‘Black Hand’ symbol associated with the Mexican Mafia criminal organization,” authorities wrote, referring to Chauvin only by his initials.
Convicted ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin appears in mug shot released by the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
Turscak is serving a 30-year sentence for racketeering and conspiring to commit murder as part of the Mexican Mafia. He had been an FBI informant, but prosecutors stopped working with him after he admitted committing crimes while on government payment, according to a 2001 report from The Los Angeles Times.
He is now charged with attempted murder, assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.
Federal authorities said Chauvin was in the law library when Turscak stabbed him approximately 22 times with an “improvised knife,” badly injuring him.
Guards allegedly stopped Turscak, who allegedly said he would have killed Chauvin if they had not responded so quickly. The FBI said they spoke to him on Nov. 26 after he waived his Miranda rights.
He allegedly denied wanting to kill Chauvin but said he he had been thinking about attacking him for about a month because Chauvin was a high-profile inmate.
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“Turscak stated he saw an opportunity to assault D.C. in the law library on Friday, November 24, 2023, the day after Thanksgiving Day commonly known as ‘Black Friday,’” the FBI wrote.
Chauvin, 47, had been sentenced to 21 years after pleading guilty in a federal civil rights case and was serving concurrent sentences after he had been sentenced to 22 1/2 years in a state case for murder and manslaughter.
As an officer for the Minneapolis Police Department, he knelt on Floyd’s neck during a May 25, 2020, arrest for alleged use of a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd, who was prone and his arms handcuffed behind his back, cried out in pain, even calling for his late mother as he became increasingly unresponsive. Chauvin did not address the 46-year-old man’s pleas or those from outraged bystanders.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office convicted Chauvin, has issued a statement condemning the prison attack.
“I am sad to hear that Derek Chauvin was the target of violence,” the statement said. “He was duly convicted of his crimes and, like any incarcerated individual, he should be able to serve his sentence without fear of retaliation or violence.”
Jason Kandel contributed to this report.
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