Derek Chauvin, convicted in George Floyd death, to survive prison attack

(Reuters) - Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the death of George Floyd, is expected to survive following an attack in a prison in Arizona on Friday, according to a spokesperson from the Minnesota Attorney General’s office.

The Associated Press earlier reported Chauvin had been stabbed and seriously injured on Friday.

"I am sad to hear that Derek Chauvin was the target of violence," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in an emailed statement on Saturday.

"He was duly convicted of his crimes and, like any incarcerated individual, he should be able to serve his sentence without fear of retaliation or violence.

Ellison did not give further details.

In a statement on Sunday, Attorney General’s Office spokesperson Brian Evans said regarding Chauvin’s condition: "We have heard that he is expected to survive.”

Chauvin is serving a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd's civil rights, as well as a concurrent 22-1/2 years for murder on his conviction in Minnesota state court.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed an unidentified inmate was assaulted at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona. It said employees "initiated life-saving measures" for one individual, who was taken by emergency medical services to a hospital. A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons said it was not providing the name of the victim or their medical status due to privacy reasons.

Floyd's death in 2020 unleashed protests worldwide against police brutality and racism after Chauvin, who is white, knelt on the neck of the handcuffed Black man for more than nine minutes in a murder caught on cellphone video.

(Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington, David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Steve Gorman; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Josie Kao)