Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd, was transferred to a federal prison in Texas almost nine months after he was stabbed in a different facility, the federal Bureau of Prisons told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Chauvin, 47, is now housed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Big Spring, a low-security prison. He was previously held in Arizona at FCI Tucson in August 2022 to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a 22 1/2-year state sentence for second-degree murder.
The transfer comes nearly nine months after Chauvin was stabbed 22 times in prison by a former gang leader and one-time FBI informant.
Another former Minneapolis officer, Thomas Lane, who held down Floyd’s legs as the man struggled to breathe, was released from federal prison in Colorado on Tuesday, the Bureau of Prisons said. Lane, 41, was serving a three year sentence for aiding and abetting manslaughter.
When Lane pleaded guilty, he admitted that he intentionally helped restrain Floyd in a way that he knew created an unreasonable risk and caused his death. He admitted that he heard Floyd say he couldn’t breathe, knew Floyd fell silent, had no pulse and appeared to have lost consciousness.
Floyd, 46, died in May 2020 after Chauvin, who is white, pinned him to the ground with a knee on Floyd’s neck as the Black man repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe. Lane, who is white, held down Floyd’s legs. J. Alexander Kueng, who is Black, knelt on Floyd’s back, and Tou Thao, who is Hmong American, kept bystanders from intervening during the 9 1/2-minute restraint.
Kueng and Thao are both set to be released in 2025. Kueng is detained at a federal prison in Ohio and Thao at a facility in Kentucky, according to Bureau of Prisons records.
The killing, captured on bystander video, sparked protests in 2020 as part of a worldwide reckoning over racial injustice.
Lane is the first of the four officers convicted of crimes related to Floyd’s killing to be released from prison. He served time for a federal sentence alongside his state sentence after being convicted of violating Floyd’s civil rights.
Chauvin is making a longshot bid to overturn his federal guilty plea, claiming new evidence shows he didn’t cause Floyd’s death. If he is unsuccessful, he would not be released until 2038.
John Turscak, who is serving a 30-year sentence for crimes committed while a member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang, attacked Chauvin on Nov. 24, 2023. He told investigators he targeted the ex-Minneapolis police officer because of his notoriety for killing Floyd.
FCI Tucson, a medium-security prison, has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages. Chauvin’s lawyer at the time, Eric Nelson, had advocated for keeping him out of the general population and away from other inmates, anticipating he would be a target.
Turscak, who was charged with attempted murder, told correctional officers he would have killed Chauvin had they not responded so quickly.
(AP)
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3 Responses
Chauvin is an innocent man, who was sacrificed to the Molech of the rioters. The plain fact is that Floyd died of a self-inflicted drug overdose. There’s a chance his life might have been saved had the ambulance the police were waiting for arrived in time, but it held off because the paramedics were justly afraid for their lives from the bloodthirsty mob of rioters.
Chauvin deserves a full pardon. Unfortunately even when Trump is sworn in he will only be able to pardon the federal conviction, not the state one. And Chauvin probably doesn’t want that, because his life would be in even more danger in a state prison than in a federal one.
@ MIlhouse
Agreed. I had argued this with freinds, and when they wouldnt see the point I actually got down on the floor and had one, who was about the same weight and build of chauvin, according to reports, recreate the scene with me on the ground, lets just say, i was breathing just fine.
IMHO The entire episode of attempting to arrest George Floyd was mishandled by the Police commanders. Derek Chauvin was a victim of circumstances. He was sacrificed by the liberal members of government and the media.
Applying a little bit of psychology and common sense would have gone a long way to resolving the situation peacefully. Because George Floyd was not accused of a violent crime. Nor did he pose a physical threat to the officers involved.
The whole case was not inspired or driven by racism. Just police inefficiency.