Attorney Gregory M. Erickson, representing Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the murder of George Floyd, lashed out over the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ handling of an incident where Chauvin was stabbed by a fellow inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona.
Erickson condemned the agency for not providing timely updates to Chauvin’s family and legal team following the attack, which occurred on Friday, November 24th, and left Chauvin seriously injured.
A law enforcement source informed NBC News on Friday that Chauvin sustained serious injuries from the stabbing.
On Saturday, Brian Evans, representing the Minnesota attorney general’s office, stated,”[Chauvin] is expected to survive,” according to the Associated Press.
Chauvin’s family, according to Erickson, has been largely reliant on media reports to gauge Chauvin’s condition, as their attempts to gain information directly from the prison have been unsuccessful.
He remarked, “As an outsider, I view this lack of communication with his attorneys and family members as completely outrageous.”
The attorney decried this as indicative of a “poorly run facility” and a reflection of the circumstances that allowed the assault on Chauvin to occur.
While the Bureau of Prisons confirmed an assault at the Arizona facility and mentioned employees performing “life-saving measures,” they did not specifically identify Chauvin or disclose his medical status, citing privacy and safety reasons.
The Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, where Chauvin was assaulted, has been facing ongoing issues with understaffing and security breaches.
Chauvin’s stabbing marks the second major stabbing incident in a federal prison in recent months, following the attack on Dr. Larry Nassar, a convicted sexual predator, by another inmate in a Florida prison in July.
Similarly, an incident occurred in November last year where an inmate located in a different section of the prison managed to obtain a firearm and attempted to shoot a visitor. There were no injuries reported as the weapon misfired.
Chauvin, 47, is serving a combined sentence of 21 years for violating Floyd’s civil rights and 22½ years for second-degree murder.
His lawyers had previously expressed concerns about his safety in the general population, leading to him being kept in solitary confinement for protection while in a Minnesota state prison.
Last week, the United States Supreme Court dismissed Chauvin’s appeal of his murder conviction.
