WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The leader of a White Supremacist Group 'Maniac Murder Cult' pleaded guilty to soliciting hate crimes and sending instructions to make bombs and ricin targeting Jewish people and racial minorities in the United States.
Georgian national Michail Chkhikvishvili, also known as 'Mishka,' 'Michael,' 'Commander Butcher,' and 'Butcher,' was a leader of Maniac Murder Cult, an international racially motivated violent extremist group. U.S. Department of Justice said Chkhikvishvili recruited people to commit violence in line with the Cult's ideologies, including planning and soliciting a mass casualty attack in New York City. Chkhikvishvili was arrested in Chi?inau, Moldova, in July 2024, and was extradited to the Eastern District of New York in May this year.
'The outstanding investigative work in this case saved untold lives and underscores the crucial behind-the-scenes activity of our federal law enforcement agents,' said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. 'Violent, nihilistic, racist groups like these are an ongoing threat to the American people - our vigilance will not waver as we protect our citizens.'
FBI Director Kash Patel said that with Monday's guilty plea, Chkhikvishvili admitted to a horrific plot targeting Jewish people and racial minorities and even planned to poison children with candy around the holidays.
In November 2023, Chkhikvishvili began planning a mass casualty attack in New York City 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 June 2022, Chkhikvishvili traveled to Brooklyn, New York. He repeatedly encouraged others, primarily via the encrypted messaging application Telegram, to commit violent hate crimes and other acts of violence on behalf of Maniac Murder Cult. This included soliciting acts of mass violence in New York from an undercover FBI agent, the Department of Justice said.
Chkhikvishvili has distributed a manifesto titled the 'Hater's Handbook' to Maniac Murder Cult members and others. It encourages its readers to commit acts of mass violence, includng school shootings.
Chkhikvishvili's encouragement of violence has resulted in multiple attacks and killings around the world, according to the Justice Department.
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.
In August 2024, an individual livestreamed himself stabbing people outside a mosque in Eskisehir, Turkey, wearing a tactical vest bearing Nazi symbols. A manifesto attributed to the attacker included explicit references to Chkhikvishvili and to violent statements made by him. Before the attack, the attacker also distributed a link to the Hater's Handbook, authored by Chkhikvishvili, and other violent propaganda.
Chkhikvishvili faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
The FBI's New York Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated the case.
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