Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the killing of George Floyd, has returned to the prison where he was stabbed 22 times last month.

The 47-year-old’s lawyer told the Minneapolis Star Tribune Chauvin’s condition had improved to where he could be released from a Tucson, Arizona hospital but they remain “very concerned” the federal penitentiary where he is incarcerated will be unable to keep him safe.

Fellow inmate and former gang member John Turscak allegedly attacked Chauvin on November 24. Turscak was sentenced to 30 years behind bars in November 2001 and was slated for release in 2026, but that may soon change. He was charged on Friday with attempted murder and has been transferred to a different corrections facility in Tucson.

The 52-year-old suspect reportedly told police he didn’t intend to kill Chauvin, but had spent a month thinking about assaulting the victim before stabbing him in the prison’s law library. Prosecutors allege prison guards stopped Turscak from committing murder.

Turscak told FBI investigators he symbolically chose Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving – to attack Chauvin, whose encounter with Floyd sparked racially charged riots and protests in 2020.

Chauvin, 47, was sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison for kneeling on the Black motorist’s neck for nearly 10 minutes during an arrest caught on video.

Less than a week before Chauvin was stabbed, the Supreme Court denied his request to appeal the second-degree murder conviction he received in July 2022. He is also serving a 21-year sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights.

– AAP