After a knife attack on American police officer Derek Chauvin, convicted of the death of African-American George Floyd, a criminal case was opened for attempted murder against the accused inmate. The 52-year-old man stabbed his victim 22 times, the Tucson District Attorney’s Office said Friday. He told prison guards that he would have killed Chauvin if they had not intervened so quickly.
Chauvin’s fellow prisoner attacked the 47-year-old former police officer last week, on the so-called “Black Friday”. According to the indictment, he said he wanted to celebrate the “Black Lives Matter” movement, which is directed against widespread police violence against black people in the USA. In this case, the 52-year-old man faces an additional 20 years in prison for attempted murder. He also allegedly stabbed another inmate more than 20 times.
>More about this: Convicted police officer is stabbed
The 52-year-old told prison guards that he would have killed Chauvin if he had not been detained, according to a court document. He planned the crime for about a month. He later stated that he had no intention of killing.
The prosecution did not mention Chauvin by name in its statement. However, an official source confirmed to the AFP news agency that the victim of the aforementioned knife attack was the former Minneapolis police officer. No information was given about Chauvin’s condition after the attack.
In May 2020, white police officer Chauvin pressed his knee on the neck of George Floyd, a black man from Minneapolis who was arrested on suspicion of counterfeiting a $20 bill, for about nine and a half minutes, even though he was repeatedly complained that he could no longer breathe. Floyd, 46, died as a result.
>More about this: George Floyd died three and a half years ago
His complaint “I can’t breathe” went around the world and became a slogan of the anti-racism movement “Black Lives Matter”. The case sparked mass protests against racism and police violence in the US and many other countries. Chauvin was later sentenced to more than two decades in prison for murder.