John Turscak: 5 things about the inmate accused of stabbing Derek Chauvin

TUCSON, AZ — Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd, was transferred to a federal prison in Big Spring, Texas, on Tuesday.

The move came nearly nine months after he was stabbed to death at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona.

John Turscak, a 52-year-old man serving a sentence in a federal prison, is accused of stabbing Chauvin 22 times on Black Friday in November.

On December 1, the U.S. Attorney's Office charged John Turscak with attempted murder, assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault causing great bodily harm.

Here are five things you should 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 prison sentence for crimes he committed as a member of the Mexican Mafia in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Turscak was the leader of 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 members of the Mexican Mafia, helping the gold miners file more than 40 indictments.

But the FBI dropped Turscak as an informant because he continued to deal drugs, extort money and plan and authorize attacks, the LA Times reported.

Turscak pleaded guilty to organized crime and conspiracy to commit murder in 2001.

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

The prisoner now faces another two decades in prison.

Under federal law, attempted murder and assault with intent to murder each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Assault with a dangerous weapon and assault causing serious bodily harm each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

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

According to prosecutors, Turscak told correctional officers he would have killed Chauvin if they had not reacted so quickly.

No staff members were injured and the FBI has been notified, the prison department told the AP. The facility has about 380 inmates. Visits have been suspended.

4. Turscak targeted Chauvin because he is a “high-profile” inmate, prosecutors said.

Turscak told investigators he had been thinking about attacking Chauvin for about a month because he was a high-profile inmate, prosecutors said.

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

Turscak also said the date of the stabbing – Black Friday – was a symbol of the Black Lives Matter movement and the “Black Hand” symbol associated with the Mexican Mafia criminal organization, authorities said.

According to prison officials, Turscak is a white man.

Chauvin, 47, was transferred to the Tucson prison from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison last year. He is concurrently serving a 21-year federal sentence for violating George Floyd's civil rights and a 22 ½-year state sentence for premeditated murder.

Chauvin's former lawyer, Eric Nelson, had pushed to keep him away from the general public and other inmates because he feared he could become a target for arrest.

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

Video taken by bystanders captured Floyd's fading cries of “I can't breathe.” His death sparked protests around the world, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.

This story uses reporting from the Associated Press.