Derek Chauvin, the murderous police officer of African-American George Floyd, whose death provoked a major anti-racist movement in the United States, was stabbed and injured in a federal prison in the southwest of the country, the newspaper said New York Times Friday night.
• Also read: 20 years for violating George Floyd’s constitutional rights
Derek Chauvin “was stabbed to death on Friday at a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona,” according to “two people familiar with the matter,” writes the American daily.
“Mr. Chauvin survived the attack,” the New York Times adds, citing one of these people.
American federal prison authorities sent a statement to AFP confirming an “attack” without naming the victim.
Jail staff “took action to save the life of an incarcerated individual” and emergency medical services were requested, this release said.
They added that the detainee was “transported to a local hospital for treatment and evaluation.”
On May 25, 2020, the white police officer, a veteran Minneapolis police officer, remained kneeling on the black forty-year-old’s neck for almost ten minutes, indifferent to the interventions of shocked passers-by and the moans of George Floyd.
Two other police officers helped restrain him.
The scene, filmed and posted online, sparked major protests against racism and police violence across the United States and beyond.
Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder by Minnesota state courts after a closely watched trial in 2021 and sentenced to 22.5 years in prison.
The United States Supreme Court last week rejected Derek Chauvin’s appeal of that conviction.
“Systemic racism”
Derek Chauvin also pleaded guilty before a federal judge to “violating the civil rights” of George Floyd and received another sentence in 2022, namely 21 years in prison.
During his 19-year career, the officer received four medals but was also the subject of 22 complaints and internal investigations, according to a public filing that redacted all details.
Only one of them was followed by a warning letter. According to the press, it was dropped off by a white woman who he had forcibly removed from her car in 2007 for speeding.
The death of George Floyd sparked large protests in the US and around the world under the slogan “Black Lives Matter”.
In March, nearly three years after the death of George Floyd, the city of Minneapolis announced that it had approved a plan to reform its police force.
In particular, the text stipulates that police will no longer stop vehicles for certain minor violations (which have often been used as an excuse in the past) and that force will only be used when “necessary” and “proportionate to the perceived threat.”
In September, UN experts highlighted “systemic racism” against the black community in the American police and justice system.
According to their report, studies have shown that African Americans are three times more likely to be killed by police than the white population and 4.5 times more likely to be incarcerated.