Derek Chauvin, former cop convicted of killing George Floyd, moved to new prison months after stabbing him

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd, has been transferred to a federal prison in Texas nearly nine months after he was stabbed at another facility, the federal Bureau of Prisons told The Associated Press Tuesday.

Chauvin, 47, is currently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Big Spring, a low-security prison. He was previously held in Arizona at FCI Tucson in August 2022 to serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd's civil rights and a 22 1/2-year state sentence for second-degree murder.

The transfer comes nearly nine months after Chauvin was stabbed 22 times in prison by a former gang leader and former FBI informant.

Another former Minneapolis police officer, Thomas Lane, who held down Floyd's legs as the man struggled to breathe, was released Tuesday from a federal prison in Colorado, the Bureau of Prisons said. Lane, 41, was serving a three-year sentence for aiding and abetting involuntary manslaughter.

When Lane pleaded guilty, he admitted to intentionally helping to subdue Floyd in a way that he knew created an unreasonable risk and caused his death. He admitted to hearing Floyd say he couldn't breathe, that he knew Floyd had gone silent, that he had no pulse, and that he appeared to have lost consciousness.

Floyd, 46, died in May 2020 after Chauvin, who is white, pinned him to the ground with a knee on Floyd’s neck as the black man repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe. Lane, who is white, held Floyd’s legs down. J. Alexander Kueng, who is black, knelt on Floyd’s back, and Tou Thao, who is Hmong American, prevented bystanders from intervening during the 9 1/2 minutes of restraint.

Kueng and Thao are both scheduled to be released in 2025. Kueng is being held in a federal prison in Ohio and Thao is being held in a Kentucky facility, according to Bureau of Prisons records.

The killing, caught on camera by a witness, sparked protests in 2020 as part of a global reckoning over racial injustice.

Lane is the first of four police officers convicted of crimes related to Floyd's killing to be released from prison. He served a federal sentence in addition to his state sentence after being convicted of violating Floyd's civil rights.

Chauvin is trying hard to overturn his federal guilty plea, claiming new evidence shows he did not cause Floyd's death. If he fails, he won't be released until 2038.

John Turscak, who is serving a 30-year sentence for crimes committed while he was a member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang, attacked Chauvin on Nov. 24, 2023. He told investigators he targeted the former Minneapolis police officer because of his notoriety for killing Floyd.

The FCI Tucson prison, a medium-security prison, has been plagued by security breaches and staffing shortages. Chauvin’s attorney at the time, Eric Nelson, argued for him to be kept away from the general population and other inmates, anticipating he would be a target.

Turscak, charged with attempted murder, told correctional officers he would have killed Chauvin if they had not reacted so quickly.

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Associated Press writer Mike Balsamo contributed to this report from Washington.

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