Former Federal Bureau of Investigation informant John Turscak, 52, attacked Derek Michael Chauvin, 47, on November 24, 2023 while Americans were celebrating Black Friday. The latter is one of the police officers involved in the fatal arrest of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, USA on May 25, 2020.
The attacked happened in the law library of the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Pima County, Arizona, USA where both Turscak and Chauvin are inmates. The former used an improvised knife to stab the latter 22 times with the intent to do bodily harm and to commit murder.
Corrections officers responded quickly, used pepper spray to subdue Turscak and performed life-saving measures on Chauvin. The former Minneapolis Police Department was taken to a hospital for emergency medical treatment.
When FBI agents interviewed Turscak on November 26, 2023, he said he chose Black Friday for his attack because it was symbolic with the Black Lives Matter movement. He waived his Miranda Rights for the interview.
In the interview, Turscak denied he had intended to kill Chauvin. The former FBI informant was charged with attempted murder, assault with the intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in bodily injury.
In 1997, Turscak became an FBI informant in an investigation. His work resulted in the indictment of more than 40 alleged members and associates of the Mexican Mafia, a Mexican American criminal organization founded by Luis “Huero Buff” Flores in 1957.
A former Mexican Mafia member himself, Turscak was convicted for crimes he committed while working as an FBI informant. While on the government payroll, he was caught dealing drugs, extorting money and authorizing assaults, which he did not deny.
Turscak pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill a rival in the prison-based gang and racketeering. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz in federal court in Los Angeles, California, USA to 30 years in prison.
CONAN Daily 