Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer , was stabbed by another inmate and seriously injured Friday at a federal prison in Arizona, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The attack happened at the Federal Correctional Institution, Tucson, 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 the condition of anonymity.
The Bureau of Prisons confirmed that an incarcerated person was assaulted at FCI Tucson at around 12:30 p.m. local time Friday. In a statement, the agency said responding employees contained the incident and performed 鈥渓ife-saving measures鈥� before the inmate, who it did not name, was taken to a hospital for further treatment and evaluation.
No employees were injured and the FBI was notified, the Bureau of Prisons said. Visiting at the facility, which has about 380 inmates, has been suspended.
Messages seeking comment were left with Chauvin鈥檚 lawyers and the FBI.
Chauvin鈥檚 stabbing is the second high-profile attack on a federal prisoner in the last five months. In July, at a federal penitentiary in Florida.
It is also the second major incident at the Tucson federal prison in a little over a year. In November 2022, an inmate at the facility鈥檚 low-security prison camp . The weapon, which the inmate shouldn鈥檛 have had, misfired and no one was hurt.
Chauvin, 47, was from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison in August 2022 to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence and a 22 1/2-year state sentence .
Chauvin鈥檚 lawyer, Eric Nelson, had advocated for keeping him out of general population and away from other inmates, anticipating he鈥檇 be a target. In Minnesota, Chauvin was 鈥渓argely for his own protection,鈥� Nelson wrote in court papers last year.
Last week, of his murder conviction. Separately, Chauvin is making a , claiming new evidence shows he didn鈥檛 cause Floyd鈥檚 death.
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd was suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.
Bystander video captured Floyd鈥檚 fading cries of 鈥淚 can鈥檛 breathe.鈥� His death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a .
Three other former officers who were at the scene received lesser for their roles in Floyd鈥檚 death.
Chauvin鈥檚 stabbing comes as the federal Bureau of Prisons has faced increased scrutiny in recent years following . It's another example of the agency鈥檚 inability to keep even its highest profile prisoners safe after Nassar鈥檚 stabbing and at a federal medical center in June.
An has uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department鈥檚 largest law enforcement agency with more than 30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates and an annual budget of about $8 billion.
AP reporting has revealed and by staff, , chronic violence, deaths and that have , including inmate assaults and suicides.
Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters was . She vowed to change archaic hiring practices and bring new transparency, while emphasizing that the agency's mission is 鈥渢o make good neighbors, not good inmates."
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September, Peters and beef up internal affairs investigations. This month, she 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 reneged on her promise to be candid and open with them. In September, senators scolded her for forcing them to wait more than a year for answers to written questions and for claiming that she , like how many correctional officers are on staff.
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Associated Press writers Amy Forliti in Minneapolis and Michael Balsamo in New York contributed to this report.
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Michael R. Sisak, The Associated Press
