In a statement on Friday, the U.S Justice department revealed that a Prison inmate was charged on Friday with attempted murder and other offenses following the stabbing of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the death of George Floyd.
Prosecutors said John Turscak, 52, has been charged with stabbing Chauvin about 22 times “with an improvised knife” on Nov. 24 while incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution Tucson.
He was charged with attempted murder, assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault resulting in serious bodily injury, according to prosecutors.
Turscak is serving a 30-year sentence over crimes that were committed when he was a member of the Mexican Mafia gang.
The investigation in the case was conducted by the FBI.
“Turscak stated that his attack of D.C. (Derek Chauvin) on Black Friday was symbolic with the Black Lives Matter movement and the Mexican Mafia criminal organization,” the complaint said.
The prosecutors maintained that Turscak also told investigators he had been thinking of assaulting the former police officer for about a month due to his high-profile status.
Attempted murder and assault with intent to commit murder violations each carry maximum penalties of 20 years incarceration, while assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury each carry maximum penalties of 10 years.
The Minnesota Attorney General’s office after the stabbing, said Chauvin who is serving a 21-year sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a concurrent 22-1/2 years for murder on his conviction in Minnesota state court was expected to survive.
Floyd’s death in 2020 unleashed protests worldwide against police brutality and racism after Chauvin, who is white, knelt on the neck of the handcuffed Black man for more than eight minutes in a murder caught on cellphone video.
|Reuters
