John Tursack: Inmate charged with attempted murder for stabbing Derek Chauvin 22 times says it was 'symbolic'

TUCSON, ARIZONA: A 52-year-old inmate, John Tursack, was charged Friday, December 1, with multiple felonies for allegedly stabbing fellow prisoner Derek Chauvin.

The former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd was attacked during a violent attack last week inside a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, as per Tuscon Sentinel.

John Tursack stabbed Derek Chauvin about 22 times with improvised knife

According to a federal complaint, Tursack attacked Chauvin on November 24, stabbing him approximately 22 times with an improvised knife "causing serious bodily injury."

Tursack told authorities he saw an "opportunity" to assault the high-profile inmate on the Friday after Thanksgiving and would have killed Chauvin without intervention from correctional officers.

The attack occurred around 12.30 pm in the law library at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, a medium-security facility.

Officers immediately responded and used pepper spray to subdue Tursack and provide life-saving measures to Chauvin before transporting him to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries.

John Tursack told FBI the attack against Derek Chauvin was 'symbolic'

Tursack now faces charges of attempted murder, assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

According to court records, after waiving his Miranda rights, Tursack admitted to FBI agents that he had been contemplating an attack on Chauvin for about a month but denied wanting to kill him.

However, he later said that because the day after Thanksgiving is commonly known as Black Friday, the timing and brutality of his surprise attack were “symbolic.”

Tursack associated the day with the Black Lives Movement and connected the Black Hand symbol, linked to the Mexican Mafia, as a reminder of the gang's affiliation with mortality.

John Tursack was once high-ranking member of La Eme

Tursack has a violent criminal history and was once a high-ranking member of the notorious Mexican Mafia prison gang La Eme before becoming an FBI informant in the 1990s.

However, prosecutors eventually dropped him as an informant after he admitted to dealing drugs, extorting money, and authorizing assaults while working for the government.

In 2001, Tursack pleaded guilty to federal racketeering and murder conspiracy charges related to his leadership role in the Mexican Mafia.

He was a close associate of Mariano 'Chuy' Martinez, a former leader of the prison-based gang convicted in a rare death penalty case in California.

Tursack himself is currently serving a 30-year sentence on racketeering charges.

The surprise attack on Chauvin came just 18 months into the former officer's 22-year sentence on state murder charges in the 2020 death of George Floyd.

Chauvin also pleaded guilty last year to federal civil rights charges related to Floyd’s murder and was sentenced to 21 additional years in federal prison.

Despite the brutal nature of last week’s stabbing, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Attorney General's office said Chauvin is expected to survive.

Officials have not speculated on any potential motives beyond Tursack seeing Chauvin as a “high-profile” target.