Derek Chauvin, convicted of the murder of George Floyd, is stabbed in prison and is in serious condition

Derek Chauvinthe former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floydwas stabbed by another inmate Friday at a federal prison in Arizona and is seriously injured, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The attack occurred in Tucson Federal Correctional Institution, a medium-security prison that has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the attack and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

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The Bureau of Prisons confirmed that an imprisoned person was attacked in FCI Tucson around 12:30 pm local time on Friday. In a statement, the agency said responding employees contained the incident and took “life-saving measures” before the inmate, who was not named, was released. taken to a hospital for further treatment and evaluation.

No employees were injured and the FBI was notified, the police said. Bureau of Prisons. Visits to the center, which has about 380 inmates, have been suspended.

Messages seeking comment were left with attorneys for Chauvin and the FBI.

The stabbing of Chauvin It is the second high-profile attack against a federal prisoner in the last five months. In July, the sports doctor Larry Nassardisgraced, was stabbed by a fellow prisoner in a federal penitentiary Florida.

It is also the second major incident at the federal prison in Tucson in just over a year. In November 2022, an inmate at the facility’s low-security prison camp pulled out a gun and attempted to shoot a visitor in the head. The weapon, which the inmate should not have had, misfired and no one was injured.

Chauvin, 47, was sent to FCI Tucson from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison in August 2022. to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating the civil rights of floyd and a state sentence of 22 and a half years for second degree murder.

The lawyer of ChauvinEric Nelson, had advocated keeping him away from the general population and other inmates, anticipating that he would be a target. In Minnesota, Chauvin was mostly held in solitary confinement “largely for his own protection,” Nelson wrote in court papers last year.

Last week, the US Supreme Court rejected Chauvin’s appeal against his murder conviction. Besides, Chauvin is making a long-shot bid to overturn his federal guilty plea, claiming new evidence shows he did not cause the death of floyd.

Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for nine and a half minutes. on the street in front of a convenience store where Floyd was suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.

He video of a passerby captured Floyd’s fading screams of “I can’t breathe”. His death sparked protests around the world.some of which turned violent and forced a nationwide reckoning with police brutality and racism.

Three other former officers who were at the scene received lesser state and federal sentences for their roles in Floyd’s death.

He Chauvin stabbing occurs when the Federal Bureau of Prisons has faced increased scrutiny in recent years following the wealthy financier’s jailhouse suicide Jeffrey Epstein in 2019. It’s another example of the agency’s inability to keep even its most high-profile prisoners safe after the stabbing of Nassar and of suicide of “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski at a federal medical center in June.

An ongoing AP investigation has uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisonsthe largest law enforcement agency in the Department of Justice with more than 30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates and an annual budget of about $8 billion.

AP reporting has revealed rampant sexual abuse and other criminal behavior by staff, dozens of escapes, chronic violence, deaths, and severe staffing shortages that have hampered emergency responses, including inmate assaults and suicides.

The director of the Bureau of Prisons, Colette Peters, was hired last year to reform the crisis-plagued agency. She promised to change archaic hiring practices and bring new transparency, while emphasizing that the agency’s mission is to “make good neighbors, not good inmates.”

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September, Peters touted steps he had taken to reform problematic prisons and bolster internal affairs investigations. This month, he told a House Judiciary subcommittee that hiring had improved and that new hires were outpacing retirements and other departures.

But Peters has also irritated lawmakers who said she broke her promise to be honest and open with them. In September, senators rebuked her for forcing them to wait more than a year for answers to written questions and for claiming she couldn’t answer basic questions about the agency’s operations, such as how many correctional officers are on staff.