Derek Chauvin’s mother is criticizing authorities for keeping her in the dark after the former Minneapolis police officer was stabbed by another inmate.
Carolyn Pawlenty, 75, said via media on Friday that her 47-year-old son needed “life-saving measures” and condemned the Bureau of Prisons for failing to contact her.
Chauvin’s attorney said the failure to notify them of his attack and keep them informed of his condition was “completely unacceptable,” describing it as a damning indictment of the state of the prison.
Chauvin is believed to be recovering at a Tucson hospital, although his attorney, Gregory M. Erickson, said they had no idea where he was.
“I can’t even think of what to say,” Pawlenty added.
‘I haven’t gone to bed and have made a path through the floor of my kitchen and living room while walking. I’m worried and scared.’
Carolyn Pawlenty, 75, has spoken of her anger at being left in the dark about her son’s stabbing death in prison on Friday. She is pictured in July 2021 addressing the sentencing hearing for the murder of George Floyd
Derek Chauvin, 47, was stabbed and seriously injured in an Arizona prison on Friday. He needed ‘life-saving’ attention from prison staff. Chauvin will be photographed via Zoom on March 17
Ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison for Floyd’s murder after pressing his knee against Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes
She said Alpha News that she was furious, she heard about the attack through the media.
“How on earth can these news agencies know when his own mother doesn’t even know?” she said.
“And that (prison) has an emergency number (for me).”
Pawlenty said she has visited Chauvin several times in the Arizona prison, where he was transferred in August 2022 for his own safety.
Chauvin’s attorney at the time, Eric Nelson, argued that Chauvin would be safer far from Minneapolis, where he had worked as a police officer for 19 years and arrested many of those he was imprisoned with.
Pawlenty said she was eager for news and trying to stay “strong” for her son.
“There is no love stronger than a mother’s love,” she said.
Brian Evans, spokesman for the Minnesota attorney general’s office, said Saturday that they learned Chauvin is “expected to survive.”
Pawlenty begged the judge for leniency in July 2021 during her son’s sentencing hearing.
“It has been difficult for me to hear and read what the media, the public and the prosecutor think about Derek being an aggressive, heartless and uncaring person,” she said.
‘That’s far from the truth. My son’s identity has also been reduced to that of a racist.
“I want this court to know that none of these things are true. My son is a good man.’
She added: “Derek always dedicated his life and time to the police department. Even on his days off, he would call if they needed help.
“Derek is a quiet, thoughtful, honorable and selfless man. He has a big heart and has always put others before his own.
“The public will never know what a loving and caring man he is. But his family does.”
Chauvin was convicted in April 2021 for the May 2020 murder of George Floyd.
Pawlenty was emotional as she spoke at the courthouse in Minneapolis in July 2021, looking at her son and telling him, ‘My happiest moment was giving birth to you’
The death of George Floyd in May 2020 roiled the United States and sparked protests against police brutality worldwide
He received a 21-year federal prison sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a 22-and-a-half-year state sentence for manslaughter.
Chauvin was initially sent to a Minnesota state prison in the suburb of Oak Park Heights.
In August 2022, he was transferred to Arizona prison – the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson: A medium-security prison plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages.
Chauvin’s stabbing is the second high-profile attack on a federal inmate in the past five months.
In July, disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar was stabbed by a fellow inmate in a federal prison in Florida.
It is also the second major incident at Tucson’s federal prison in just over a year.
In November 2022, an inmate at the facility’s low-security prison camp pulled out a gun and tried to shoot a visitor in the head.
The weapon, which the prisoner should not have had, misfired and no one was injured.
The Tucson jail where Chauvin is being held. He was transferred there in August 2022
Chauvin spent 15 months at the Minnesota Corrections Facility in Oak Park Heights (photo is a jail cell)
Chauvin was housed in an administrative separation room like this one at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Oak Parks
Erickson, Chauvin’s attorney, said Saturday that the failure to inform Chauvin’s family was indicative of the problems within the jail.
“The fact that the family members responsible for Derek’s decisions regarding his personal medical care and his emergency contact were not notified following his stabbing further highlights the facility’s poor procedures and lack of institutional control, Erickson said.
“While Derek’s family assume he is stable due to a third party report (no direct contact), they are understandably doubtful due to the lack of transparency that has permeated this ordeal.
“I hope you all find it strange and disturbing, as we do, that the media has been given more information than Derek’s lawyers or immediate family.”
Erickson said neither his company nor the family have received any information from the prison about his condition or location.
“As an outsider, I view this lack of communication with his lawyers and family members as completely outrageous.
“It appears to be indicative of a poorly run facility and shows how Derek’s attack could have occurred.
“When I read earlier today in the Associated Press that the same prison gave one of its inmates access to a firearm just over a year ago, I came to the conclusion that this institution suffers from a total lack of institutional control.”
He concluded: “I would like you all to imagine how you would feel if this were your son, brother or father who was stabbed and forced to suffer alone, his location hidden from you.
‘This is completely unacceptable. If this is standard procedure, the procedure needs to be changed.”
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Chauvin’s appeal of his murder conviction.
In addition, Chauvin is attempting to overturn his federal guilty plea, claiming new evidence shows he did not cause Floyd’s death.