TUCSON, Ariz. — A suspect is now charged in connection with the stabbing of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin inside a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona last week.
John Turscak, 52, has been charged with attempted murder and assault.
The criminal complaint in the case does not explicitly list Derek Chauvin as the stabbing victim, but it does reference a "high-profile" victim with the initials "D.C." on Nov. 24.
According to the complaint, Turscak stabbed "D.C." 22 times with an "improvised knife" while he was in the prison's law library.
Turscak initially told guards who responded to the incident that he would have killed DC had it not been for their involvement.
Turscak told the FBI he had been contemplating attacking DC for a month before seeing an opportunity on that November day in the library, according to the document.
The suspect allegedly told the investigators he attacked DC on Black Friday because it was symbolic of the Black Lives Matter movement and the "Black Hand" symbol associated with the Mexican Mafia organization.
An attorney for Turscak was not listed in court records and Turscak, who has represented himself in numerous court matters from prison, remained in custody on Friday. A 2001 report in the Los Angeles Times said Turscak was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for crimes committed while working as an FBI informant.
Chauvin, 47, was sent to FCI Tucson from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison in August 2022 to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, concurrently with his 22½-year state sentence for second-degree murder. Floyd died on May 25, 2020 after Chauvin pressed a knee on his neck for 9½ minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd was suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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