Former Mexican Mafia member says alleged motive for stabbing Derek Chauvin doesn't add up

A former member of the Mexican Mafia “laughed a little” at the idea that the man accused of stabbing former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in prison is a BLM sympathizer.

Ramon “Mundo” Mendoza gave Fox News host Jesse Watters his unfiltered view of the incident at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson when Chauvin was stabbed 22 times with a makeshift knife by John Turscak. The 52-year-old inmate, also known as “Weird,” was a former Mexican Mafia member turned FBI informant.

With just three years of a 30-year sentence, Turcak allegedly “attempted to assassinate America's most prominent inmate,” Watters wrote in X.

“Because?” asked in the post accompanying the video interview with Mendoza, who offered more information about the man known as “Stranger” while also questioning reports that the attack was carried out on Black Friday because of some symbolism with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Derek Chauvin's attacker used to be called “weird”. The white FBI informant for the Mexican Mafia got less than 3 years left on his sentence, but he tried to assassinate America's most prominent inmate. Because? A former member of the Mexican Mafia, Ramon “Mundo” Mendoza, knows all about… pic.twitter.com/H7ydACXNUL

— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) December 5, 2023

“Did you understand that I was kind of a BLM supporter because that was the justification for the reason?” Watters asked his masked guest.

“I can tell you that for sure. On the contrary, I laughed a little when I saw two things,” Mendoza replied.

“I saw that he had allegedly stated that one of his motives or motives was to support Black Lives Matter and also to commemorate the Black Hand, which is the official tattoo of the Mexican Mafia prison gang. Well, first of all, he, like many members of the Mexican Mafia, he was anti-black. That was part of who he was as a villain, as a member of the gang, and the records will reflect that,” he continued.

“Number two, at this point he can never pretend to represent the Black Hand or the Mexican Mafia prison gang because he's persona non grata and he's got the green light. In other words, he's destined for the execution of the interns,” he said. explain Mendoza.

Watters wondered if that was why “he was trying to commit this murder so he would stay in prison,” adding, “Because the day he gets out, like you said, he's a dead man, if you ask me.”

Mendoza considered Turscak's life of crime and the little time he spent living a so-called normal life in the real world.

“That's just an educated opinion, like everybody else's opinion. He's got, like I said, all these years of being in bands. And part of being in a band is the status that comes with it: the unpredictability of being a career criminal. This guy was a career criminal — that's all he knew. That was the life he knew,” he told Watters.

“There may have been some degree of fear because he's got the green light, he's headed for execution, but I hear conspiracy theories, this and that. The guy's a loose cannon,” Mendoza continued.

“He thought he was going to make a name for himself, probably. Status was important. He had absolutely nothing to gain from it, except, again, the unpredictability of someone like that,” he added, saying he understands the mentality

“I know because he was that kind of man. I was unpredictable. And murder was what we lived and operated in. So I have no doubt that Stranger was probably trying to take this guy out. But remember, this officer, or this ex-officer, he probably knew how to fight himself. I don't think he's a wimp,” de Chauvin said.

Turscak, whose sentence would have been completed in 2026, was charged with attempted murder in the November attack on Chauvin, who was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. He was also charged with assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault with grievous bodily harm.

Senior Staff Writer
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida, where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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