Earlier on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon sentenced Michail Chkhikvishvili, a Georgian national also known as “Commander Butcher,” to 15 years in prison for soliciting hate crimes and distributing instructions to make bombs and ricin.
Chkhikvishvili is allegedly a leader of Maniac Murder Cult, an international, racially motivated, violent extremist group that is also known as “Maniacs Murder Cult,” “Maniacs: Cult of Killing,” “MKY,” “MMC,” and “MKU.”
Chkhikvishvili recruited others to commit violent acts in furtherance of MKY’s ideologies, including planning and soliciting a mass casualty attack in New York City.
He was extradited from Moldova to the Eastern District of New York in May 2025 and pleaded guilty in November.
“Chkhikvishvili, a leader of the ‘Maniacs Murder Cult,’ repeatedly called for the murder of innocent civilians, including children, and schemed to attack and terrorize Jewish communities and racial minorities in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “Chkhikvishvili, for example, tried to recruit a supposed associate to dress up as Santa Claus and pass out poisoned candy to minority children. Today’s sentence takes a monster off our streets and protects our communities at least for a time.”
In June 2022, Chkhikvishvili traveled to Brooklyn, New York. Beginning as early as July 2022, Chkhikvishvili repeatedly encouraged others, primarily via Telegram, to commit violent hate crimes and other acts of violence on behalf of MKY. This included soliciting acts of mass violence in New York from an individual who, unbeknownst to Chkhikvishvili, was an undercover FBI employee.
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“The defendant plotted abhorrent acts of antisemitic and racially motivated violence,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Individuals who plan and encourage this violence will not find refuge in the dark corners of the Internet. Together, with our law enforcement partners, we will relentlessly pursue these criminals and hold them accountable.”
Maniac Murder Cult adheres to Neo-Nazi ideology and promotes violence against racial minorities, the Jewish community and other groups it deems “undesirables.” Since approximately September 2021, Chkhikvishvili has distributed a manifesto titled the “Hater’s Handbook” to MKY members and others. The Hater’s Handbook encourages people to commit acts of mass violence, including school shootings, and includes Chkhikvishvili’s assertion that he has “murdered for the white race.”
“The defendant is a hate-mongering menace who intended to hurt and kill children in the Jewish community and in other minority communities in New York City,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District of New York. “Thanks to our incredible law enforcement partners, he did not succeed and will now face justice for his cowardly acts. Today’s sentence sends a strong message to hateful extremists, wherever you are, who seek to spread fear through unspeakable violence: we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
Beginning in approximately November 2023, Chkhikvishvili solicited the UC to commit violent crimes, such as bombings and arsons, for the purpose of harming racial minorities, Jewish individuals and others. In November 2023, Chkhikvishvili began planning a mass casualty attack in New York City to take place on New Year’s Eve. The scheme involved having an individual dress up as Santa Claus and hand out candy laced with poison to racial minorities. In January 2024, the scheme evolved and Chkhikvishvili specifically directed the UC to target the Jewish community, Jewish schools, and Jewish children in Brooklyn with poison. Chkhikvishvili sent detailed manuals about creating and mixing lethal poisons and gases, including ricin.
“The defendant recruited others to commit violent attacks against the Jewish community and racial minorities, and he will now pay a steep price for his crimes,” said Assistant Director Donald Holstead of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. “His twisted plans included poisoning children with candy around the holidays, but that plot was stopped thanks to the good work of the FBI and our law enforcement partners. The defendant was extradited from Moldova, showing once again that those who try to harm our citizens will not be able to hide overseas from the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors. We will spare no effort to make sure these criminals face justice.”
Nocella praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which consists of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the New York City Police Department, and over 50 other federal, state, and local agencies, as well as the Department of State, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, and the government of Moldova for their crucial assistance in securing Chkhikvishvili’s arrest and extradition.
“As a leader of the white supremacist group ‘Maniac Murder Cult,’ this defendant concocted hate-fueled, mass-casualty plans and inspired others to commit attacks based on his vile rhetoric,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “This violent extremist’s intentions were clear: harm and kill as many Jews and racial groups as possible. But thanks to the work of our NYPD investigators, along with the FBI and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, he is now off our streets and being held accountable for his hateful crimes.”
Chkhikvishvili has allegedly incited multiple attacks and killings around the world. For example, in January 2025, a 17-year-old student killed one individual and injured another before dying by suicide inside Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee. The attacker livestreamed part of the attack. Before the attack, in an audio recording posted online and attributed to him, the attacker claimed he was taking action on behalf of Maniac Murder Cult. The attacker’s manifesto explicitly mentioned Chkhikvishvili.
In August 2024, an individual livestreamed himself stabbing five people outside a mosque in Eskisehir, Turkey, while wearing a tactical vest bearing Nazi symbols. A manifesto attributed to the attacker included explicit references to Chkhikvishvili and his violent statements. Before the attack, the attacker also distributed a link to the Hater’s Handbook and other violent propaganda.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and Cybercrime Section. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew D. Reich and Ellen H. Sise for the Eastern District of New York are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney Justin Sher of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, Special Agent Kristoffer Borch from the Eastern District of New York’s Criminal Investigations Unit, and Paralegal Specialists Rebecca Roth and Wayne Colon. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division also provided assistance.
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