The leader of a “murder cult,” who was behind a plot to give poisoned candy to Jewish children in New York, has been sentenced to 15 years behind bars.
Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 22-year-old Georgian national, was charged with soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence and pleaded guilty in November, according to the Justice Department.
Among his “abhorrent” plans, Chkhikvishvili attempted to recruit an undercover FBI agent to dress up as Santa Claus and pass out poisoned candy to minority children, prosecutors said.
Chkhikvishvili, who referred to himself as “Commander Butcher,” led the “Maniac Murder Cult,” also known as “MYK” which was described as “an international racially motivated violent extremist group,” according to the DOJ.
The group follows a “Neo-Nazi ideology and promotes violence against racial minorities, the Jewish community and other groups it deems ‘undesirables,’” according to the DOJ.
“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.
“Today’s sentence takes a monster off our streets and protects our communities at least for a time.”
Chkhikvishvili was arrested in Moldova in the summer of 2024 after he was indicted in New York and was extradited to the U.S. in May last year.
According to the DOJ, 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.”
In June 2022, Chkhikvishvili traveled to Brooklyn, New York, where he repeatedly encouraged others, primarily via Telegram, to commit violent hate crimes and other acts of violence on behalf of the “murder cult”, prosecutors said.
This included soliciting acts of mass violence in New York from an individual who, unbeknown to Chkhikvishvili, was an undercover FBI employee. Chkhikvishvili attempted to get the agent to commit violent crimes, such as bombings and arson, for the purpose of harming racial minorities, including members of the Jewish community, according to the DOJ.
In November 2023, prosecutors said 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, Chkhikvishvili changed the plan and he directed the agent to specifically target Jewish children and sent him “detailed manuals about creating and mixing lethal poisons and gases, including ricin,” the DOJ said.
“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.”
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