Murders and attempted murders

Ex-Gang Member Charged With Stabbing Derek Chauvin

NOV 27 2023·Updated DEC 2 2023

Story

Image credit: Brandon Bell/Getty Images News [via Getty Images]

The Facts

John Turscak, a former gang leader and one-time FBI informant serving a 30-year sentence, has been charged with attempted murder in the stabbing of fellow inmate Derek Chauvin at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson.
ap
Turscak is accused of stabbing Chauvin, an ex-Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, 22 times with an improvised knife in the federal prison's law library on Nov. 24.
NPR
He had reportedly planned an assault on Chauvin — serving a 22-and-a-half-year sentence on murder and manslaughter charges — for about a month and attacked him on Black Friday in what he said was an effort to revive the Black Lives Matter movement.
Al Jazeera
Chauvin is serving a concurrent sentence after he faced federal civil rights charges and pleaded guilty to holding his knee on Floyd's neck even after Floyd became unresponsive during a police stop.
ABC News
Floyd's killing was captured on video and set off worldwide protests while people were isolated during the COVID pandemic.
nytimes
Chauvin's stabbing came just days after the US Supreme Court declined to hear the police officer's appeal of his conviction. He argues that new evidence suggests Floyd may have died from a drug overdose and not from his interaction with Chauvin.
The Post Millennial

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

This near tragedy could've been more easily avoided had the federal prison system not been dealing with massive staff shortages and other shortfalls that have made it challenging to keep all prisoners secure. Assessments have been made, leading to reforms, but it's not possible to eradicate all danger from the prison system.

nytimes

Narrative B

This is a massive failure of the federal prison system, especially considering how many notorious prisoners have lately been the victims of violence while in custody. Even if reforms are being undertaken, it shouldn't have taken much more than basic common sense to keep Chauvin separated and safe from harm.