Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 22-year-old national of Georgia, who goes by ‘Commander Butcher,’ has pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn federal court to orchestrating a plot to poison children with candy and share bomb-making instructions, targeting Jewish communities and racial minorities. The neo-Nazi leader, who led the extremist group ‘Maniac Murder Cult,’ admitted to soliciting hate crimes and advocating for violence to spark a racial and religious war. Chkhikvishvili’s actions have been tied to real-world attacks, including a school shooting in Nashville in January 2025 and a terrorist incident in Turkey in August 2024, where an attacker livestreamed himself stabbing people outside a mosque.
Prosecutors revealed that Chkhikvishili was extradited from Moldova to the Eastern District of New York in May 2024, where he admitted to planning a New Year’s Eve mass casualty attack in New York City, involving a Santa-clad assailant handing out poisoned candy. He also shifted his focus to Jewish schools and communities in Brooklyn, sending detailed instructions for creating lethal toxins, including ricin, to an undercover FBI agent. The FBI Director Kash Patel emphasized the severity of the plot, stating that the defendant’s actions targeted Jewish people and racial minorities with a plan to poison children during the holidays.
The ‘Hater’s Handbook,’ a manifesto circulated by Chkhikvishi since at least 2021, has inspired real-world violence, including the January 2025 school shooting at Antioch High School in Nashville, where a 17-year-old gunman killed one student and injured another before taking his own life. The attacker claimed allegiance to the Maniac Murder Cult and other extremist groups. Similarly, an attacker in Eskisehir, Turkey, in August 2024, cited Chkhikvishi and his manifesto in a livestreamed attack at a mosque, stabbing multiple people while wearing a vest with Nazi symbols.
Chkhikvishi faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison for his role in these crimes. The case highlights the dangers of extremist rhetoric and the need for increased cybersecurity measures and counter-radicalization efforts. Federal officials have condemned his actions, underscoring the threat posed by radicalized individuals using encrypted platforms like Telegram to plan and incite violence.