The leader of a neo-Nazi extremist group has been charged with plotting to have an associate dress up as Santa Claus and distribute poisoned candy to Jewish children in New York City, prosecutors revealed on Tuesday.
Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 21-year-old from the Republic of Georgia, was indicted on four charges, including soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence, according to a statement from the US department of justice.It is unclear if he has an attorney.
Chkhikvishvili, also known as “Commander Butcher,” allegedly leads the “Maniac murder cult, “an international extremist group that promotes a “neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology” and advocates for violence against racial minorities, the Jewish community, and other groups it considers “undesirables.”
The “Maniac murder cult” aims to destabilize social order and governments through terrorism and violent acts that incite fear and chaos, said assistant attorney general Matthew G Olsen of the justice department’s national security division, US Attorney Breon Peace for the eastern district of New York, and executive assistant director Robert R Wells of the FBI’s national security branch.
Chkhikvishvili was arrested after attempting to recruit an undercover law enforcement officer to join his group and commit violent crimes, such as bombings and arsons, according to court documents.
In November 2023, Chkhikvishvili began planning a “mass casualty event” for New Year’s Eve in New York City, prosecutors said. “The scheme involved an individual dressing up as Santa Claus and handing out candy laced with poison to racial minorities and children at Jewish schools in Brooklyn,” the Department of Justice statement detailed.
He “drafted step-by-step instructions to carry out the scheme” and shared with the undercover officer “detailed manuals on creating and mixing lethal poisons and gases.”
Since September 2021, Chkhikvishvili has distributed a manifesto titled the “Hater’s Handbook,” in which he claims to have “murdered for the white race” and urges others to do the same. The handbook encourages readers to commit school shootings and use children for suicide bombings and other mass killings targeting racial minorities. It describes methods for committing mass “terror attacks,” including using vehicles to target large gatherings and pedestrian-congested streets, specifically encouraging attacks within the United States.
Chkhikvishvili traveled to New York City at least twice in 2022, staying with his paternal grandmother in Brooklyn, officials said.
If convicted, Chkhikvishvili faces up to 20 years in prison for solicitation of violent felonies, five years for conspiring to solicit violent felonies, 20 years for distributing information on making and using explosive devices, and five years for transmitting threatening communication.
Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 21-year-old from the Republic of Georgia, was indicted on four charges, including soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence, according to a statement from the US department of justice.It is unclear if he has an attorney.
Chkhikvishvili, also known as “Commander Butcher,” allegedly leads the “Maniac murder cult, “an international extremist group that promotes a “neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology” and advocates for violence against racial minorities, the Jewish community, and other groups it considers “undesirables.”
The “Maniac murder cult” aims to destabilize social order and governments through terrorism and violent acts that incite fear and chaos, said assistant attorney general Matthew G Olsen of the justice department’s national security division, US Attorney Breon Peace for the eastern district of New York, and executive assistant director Robert R Wells of the FBI’s national security branch.
Chkhikvishvili was arrested after attempting to recruit an undercover law enforcement officer to join his group and commit violent crimes, such as bombings and arsons, according to court documents.
In November 2023, Chkhikvishvili began planning a “mass casualty event” for New Year’s Eve in New York City, prosecutors said. “The scheme involved an individual dressing up as Santa Claus and handing out candy laced with poison to racial minorities and children at Jewish schools in Brooklyn,” the Department of Justice statement detailed.
He “drafted step-by-step instructions to carry out the scheme” and shared with the undercover officer “detailed manuals on creating and mixing lethal poisons and gases.”
Since September 2021, Chkhikvishvili has distributed a manifesto titled the “Hater’s Handbook,” in which he claims to have “murdered for the white race” and urges others to do the same. The handbook encourages readers to commit school shootings and use children for suicide bombings and other mass killings targeting racial minorities. It describes methods for committing mass “terror attacks,” including using vehicles to target large gatherings and pedestrian-congested streets, specifically encouraging attacks within the United States.
Chkhikvishvili traveled to New York City at least twice in 2022, staying with his paternal grandmother in Brooklyn, officials said.
If convicted, Chkhikvishvili faces up to 20 years in prison for solicitation of violent felonies, five years for conspiring to solicit violent felonies, 20 years for distributing information on making and using explosive devices, and five years for transmitting threatening communication.