Former gang member charged with attempted murder in stabbing of ex-officer
John Turscak, an incarcerated former gang member and one-time FBI informant, has been charged with the attempted murder of ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin at a federal prison in Arizona. Turscak stabbed Chauvin 22 times at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, and said he would have killed Chauvin had correctional officers not responded so quickly, federal prosecutors said.
Turscak, who is serving a 30-year sentence for crimes committed while a member of the Mexican Mafia gang, told investigators that he had thought about attacking Chauvin for about a month because the former officer, convicted of murdering George Floyd, is a high-profile inmate. However, Turscak later denied wanting to kill Chauvin, prosecutors said.
The attack took place in the prison’s law library around 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 24, the day after Thanksgiving. Chauvin was taken to a hospital for treatment. Turscak told FBI agents that he attacked Chauvin as a symbolic connection to the Black Lives Matter movement and the “Black Hand” symbol associated with the Mexican Mafia, prosecutors said.
Turscak is charged with attempted murder, assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. He could face a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of the attempted murder charges. Turscak has represented himself in court matters and his lawyer has not been listed in court records.
Chauvin, who is currently serving a federal 21-year sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights, was sent to the Arizona prison from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison in August 2022. His lawyer at the time had advocated for keeping him out of general population and away from other inmates, anticipating he would be a target. In Minnesota, Chauvin was mainly kept in solitary confinement.
Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, 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. His death touched off protests worldwide and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Turscak led a faction of the Mexican Mafia in the late 1990s and became an FBI informant in 1997, providing information about the gang, leading to more than 40 indictments. However, the FBI dropped Turscak as an informant due to his ongoing criminal activities. He pleaded guilty in 2001 to racketeering and conspiring to kill a gang rival.