Derek Chauvin's Life In Prison Is Worse Than Anyone Suspected

When Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd in 2020, everyone was shocked, not because he didn't deserve it — in fact, millions had protested for months demanding justice, spurring a global phenomenon — but because cops rarely get convicted for killing someone on duty. But Chauvin was hit with not one, not two, but three guilty verdicts, specifically second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter, for kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine agonizing minutes while he begged for air. He was sentenced to 22.5 years, with parole not even on the horizon until 2035 or 2036. But if anyone thought Chauvin would quietly do his time, they were wrong. Two years into his sentence he was stabbed 22 times by a fellow inmate — the same number of years he's supposed to serve.

Even before the stabbing, Chauvin's time in prison was anything but easy. While he was at Oak Park Heights, officials told TMZ his stay was "dismal," and that's putting it mildly. He spent nearly every hour of the day in solitary, had no contact with other inmates, no job assignments, and staff checked on him every 30 minutes like clockwork. But when he got moved to an Arizona facility, that's where things really started going sideways. Another inmate went after him with a shank and stabbed him multiple times, with the suspect later admitting he probably would have finished the job if the guards hadn't stepped in when they did, according to ABC News. Some staff members even had to jump in and perform "life-saving measures" on the spot to keep Chauvin alive long enough to get him to a hospital.

No one thought Chauvin was in for a cushy ride, obviously, but it's safe to say his time behind bars has been a lot more intense than most people probably expected.

Although someone did try to end Derek Chauvin's life, he survived the attack and was returned to prison after a brief hospital stay. According to his attorney, Gregory M. Erickson, they are now trying to make sure that sort of thing does not happen again. "We will continue to try to ascertain what additional measures are being made to protect Derek and will pursue any avenues available under the law to ensure his continued safety," he said, per NBC News.

Of course, surviving a prison stabbing doesn't get him — or anyone — a free pass out of jail. As of this writing, Chauvin still has more than a decade to go before he's even eligible for parole. But unsurprisingly, that hasn't stopped a few right-wing names from campaigning for his release. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been vocal about wanting him pardoned, and conservative pundit Ben Shapiro even claimed on his podcast that Chauvin's conviction was "the defining achievement of the Woke movement in American politics" ... whatever that means.

And while Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara brushed off the idea of a pardon, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is already prepping for fallout, just in case. "No indication whether they're going to do it or not, but I think it behooves us to be prepared for it. With this presidency, it seems like that might be something they would do," he said, and went on to clarify that there's currently "no credible intelligence pointing to a planned pardon," but admitted that the state's emergency response plans have been revamped since 2020. "Out of an abundance of caution [we] are planning for any eventuality," he said. In short, they're not raising the red flag yet — but they're watching very closely.