By Oluwatosin Maliki
Derek Chauvin who was convicted for the murder of George Floyd, was reportedly stabbed in prison on Friday.
Quest Times recalls that the death of George Floyd in 2020, sparked outrage from the black community in the US, leading to massive racial justice protests.
It also led to the birth of “black lives matter movement,” following the accusation of police brutality/assault on black folks across the country.
Moreover, the neck of the 46-year-old George Floyd was pinned to the ground for more than nine minutes, on a Minneapolis street, despite his desperate plea that he could not breathe until he died.
Following this incident, Floyd’s cries of “I can’t breathe” became a rallying call for demonstrators across the world, as people took to the streets in the killing’s aftermath.
The assault was confirmed by the US Federal Bureau of Prisons to AFP without naming the person wounded.
The statement from the southwestern state of Arizona said, “An incarcerated individual was assaulted at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Tucson.”
“Responding employees initiated life-saving measures for one incarcerated individual,” the statement said, adding that the wounded individual was sent to a local hospital “for further treatment and evaluation.”
However, the ex-police officer, Chauvin survived the attack, according to a New York Times source.
A US court had found Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in 2021. He was consequently sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison.
The physical assault on George Floyd was caught on video, which contradicted the different version of events initially released by the police department, which simply stated, “officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress.”
Prompting a Justice Department to probe the Minneapolis police, the findings of which were published in June 2023, revealed that officers in the department routinely resorted to violent and racist practices, including unjustified deadly force.
A wrongful death lawsuit was filed by the Floyd family against the city of Minneapolis, in the midwestern state of Minnesota, as they agreed to pay his relatives $27 million.