Derek Chauvin, the murderous police officer of the African-American George Floyd whose death had provoked a large anti-racist movement in the United States, was stabbed and injured in a federal prison in the southwest of the country, announced the New York Times Friday night.
Derek Chauvin taken to hospital
Derek Chauvin “was stabbed Friday in a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona”, according to “two people familiar with this matter”, writes the American daily. “Mr. Chauvin survived the attack,” adds the New York Times, relying on one of these people. The American federal prison authorities sent a statement to AFP confirming an “assault” without specifying the name of the victim.
Prison employees “took action to save the life of an incarcerated person” and emergency medical services “were requested,” they said in the statement. The detainee was transported “to a local hospital for treatment and examination,” they added.
Sentenced to 22 and a half years of detention in 2021
On May 25, 2020, the white police officer, a seasoned police officer from Minneapolis (north), remained kneeling on the neck of the black forty-year-old for nearly ten minutes, indifferent to the interventions of shocked passers-by and the groans of George Floyd. Two other police officers helped hold him down.
The scene, filmed and posted online, sparked huge protests against racism and police violence across the United States and beyond. Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder by the Minnesota state courts following a closely watched trial in 2021 and sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. The United States Supreme Court last week rejected Derek Chauvin’s appeal of the conviction.
Derek Chauvin also pleaded guilty to “violations of the civil rights” of George Floyd before a federal judge and received another sentence in 2022, 21 years in prison. During his 19-year career, the police officer received four medals but was also the subject of 22 complaints and internal investigations, according to a public file redacted of all details. Only one of them was followed by a letter of reprimand. According to the press, it had been dropped off by a white woman whom he had violently removed from her car in 2007 for speeding.
The death of George Floyd provoked large demonstrations in the United States and around the world under the slogan “Black Lives Matter”.
A plan to reform the Minneapolis police
In March, nearly three years after the death of George Floyd, the city of Minneapolis announced that it had approved a plan to reform its police force. The text provides in particular that the police will no longer stop vehicles for certain minor violations (often used in the past as a pretext) and that force will only be used if “necessary” and in a manner “proportional to the perceived threat”.
In September, UN experts highlighted “systemic racism” against the black community within the American police and judicial systems. According to their report, studies have shown that African Americans are three times more likely to be killed by police than the white population, and 4.5 times more likely to be incarcerated.