Derek Chauvin's Mom Speaks Out After Son's Stabbing: 'I Am Outraged'

MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin's mom is speaking out after her son was stabbed in federal prison last week, saying no one from the government contacted her about the attack.

"I am outraged...my son was stabbed on Friday at 12:30 p.m. Not one person from FCI Prison, BOP or the FBI has contacted me!!! Why???" she wrote on Facebook Monday.

"I have major concerns and questions! I want the respect of being notified!" she continued, adding "I am heartbroken!! I am his mom!"

Chauvin's attorney also said Saturday the inmate's family was kept in the dark by federal prison officials. Gregory M. Erickson slammed what he perceived as a lack of transparency by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Chauvin was treated for "life-saving measures" at the prison Friday before being hospitalized. He is expected to survive.

The stabbing happened at the federal prison in Tucson, a medium-security prison that has seen recent security lapses and staffing shortages, according to the Associated Press.

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 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.

The stabbing comes after the U.S. Supreme Court last week rejected Chauvin’s appeal of his murder conviction.

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.