John Turscak: 5 Things About Inmate Accused Of Stabbing Derek Chauvin

TUCSON, AZ — A 52-year-old man serving time in federal prison has been charged in the stabbing of fellow inmate Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the murder of George Floyd.

The attack happened at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona, authorities said.

On Dec. 1, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged John Turscak with attempted murder, assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

Here are five things to know about John Turscak, the prison inmate accused of stabbing Derek Chauvin:

1. Turscak is a former leader of the Mexican Mafia.

Turscak is serving a 30-year sentence for crimes committed while a member of the Mexican Mafia gang in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Turscak led a Mexican Mafia gang in the 1990s and became an FBI informant in 1997.

Turscak provided federal investigators with information and recordings of conversations he had with Mexican Mafia members, helping prospectors file more than 40 indictments.

But the FBI dropped Turscak as an informant because he was still dealing drugs, extorting money, and plotting and authorizing assaults, the LA Times reported.

Turscak pleaded guilty in 2001 to racketeering and conspiring to kill.

2. Turscak was scheduled to be released from prison on June 3, 2026.

The inmate now faces another two decades of prison time.

Under federal law, attempted murder and assault with intent to commit murder violations each carry maximum penalties of 20 years’ incarceration.

Assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury each carry maximum penalties of 10 years incarceration

3. Federal authorities accuse Turscak of stabbing Chauvin 22 times with an improvised knife, also known as a prison shank or shiv.

Turscak told correctional officers he would've killed Chauvin if they hadn't responded so quickly, according to prosecutors.

No employees were injured and the FBI was notified, the Bureau of Prisons told AP. The facility has about 380 inmates. Visiting was suspended.

4. Turscak targeted Chauvin because he is a "high profile" inmate, prosecutors said.

Turscak told investigators that he had been thinking about attacking Chauvin for about a month because he is a high-profile inmate, according to prosecutors.

5. The date of the stabbing was significant to Turscak, authorities said.

Turscak also said the date of the stabbing — Black Friday — was symbolic of the Black Lives Matter movement and the "Black Hand" symbol associated with the Mexican Mafia criminal organization, authorities said.

Turscak is a white man, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

Chauvin, 47, was sent to the Tucson prison from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison last year. He's serving a simultaneous 21-year federal sentence for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, and a 22 ½-year state sentence for second-degree murder.

Chauvin’s previous lawyer, Eric Nelson, had advocated for keeping him out of the general population and away from other inmates, anticipating he could be targeted.

Floyd, who was Black, died May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for over 9 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd was suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.

Bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” His death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.

Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this story.