.png?trim=0,0,90,0&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800 "‘Murder cult leader’ behind alleged neo-Nazi plot to poison students at Brooklyn Jewish schools extradited to US following arrest in Moldova – UK Times")
Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 21-year-old from Georgia, has been extradited to the United States from Moldova after federal authorities say he led a “murder cult” and tried to poison students at Brooklyn Jewish schools.
Chkhikvishvili — known as “Commander Butcher,” according to prosecutors — was arrested in Chișinău, Moldova last summer after he was indicted in New York on charges of soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence.
Prosecutors say Chkhikvishvili led the “Maniac Murder Cult,” which is “an international racially motivated violent extremist group.” The group follows a “Neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology and promotes violence against racial minorities, the Jewish community, and other groups it deems ‘undesirables,’” according to the Department of Justice.
“Members share a common goal of challenging social order and governments via terrorism and violent acts that promote fear and chaos,” prosecutors say.
Chkhikvishvili pleaded not guilty during his appearance in federal court in Brooklyn on Friday.
As the group’s alleged leader, Chkhikvishvili is accused of planning and soliciting a mass casualty attack in New York.
The scheme allegedly involved someone dressing up as Santa Claus and handing out candy laced with poison to members of the Jewish community, particularly children in Brooklyn who attended Jewish schools.
The 21-year-old is also accused of saying he wanted the attack to be “bigger action than Breivik,” referring to Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian neo‑Nazi who committed a bombing and mass shooting in Norway in 2011. He killed 77 people.
Prosecutors say Chkhikvishvili admitted to other crimes, telling people he was “glad I have murdered” and that he would “murder more” but “make others murder first.”
Chkhikvishvili is accused of drafting “step-by-step instructions to carry out the scheme” and sharing” detailed manuals about creating and mixing lethal poisons and gases” with the person he wanted to carry out the scheme.
Some of these materials are linked to foreign terrorist organizations, including ISIS, prosecutors say.
Since 2021, Chkhikvishvili has been distributing a “manifesto” called the “Hater’s Handbook” which “encourages people to commit acts of mass violence,” according to the Justice Department.
New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch praised efforts to capture the 21-year-old.
“This defendant allegedly planned to poison Jewish children and carry out mass murder in New York City,” Tisch said. “He incited bombings, arsons, and violence against racial and religious minorities – driven by a hateful neo-Nazi ideology. These weren’t idle threats. They were detailed plans.”
