DOJ says leader of neo-Nazi ‘murder cult' influenced Antioch school shooter
NEW YORK (AP/WKRN) — The leader of an eastern European neo-Nazi group has been extradited to the United States from Moldova following his arrest last summer for allegedly instructing an undercover federal agent to dress as Santa Claus and hand out poisoned candy to Jewish children and racial minorities, prosecutors said.
Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 21-year-old from the republic of Georgia, was arraigned Friday before a federal judge in Brooklyn on multiple felonies, including soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence.
He pleaded not guilty through an attorney, Samuel Gregory, who requested his client receive a psychiatric evaluation and be placed on suicide watch while in custody. Gregory did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Antioch High School Shooting | Continuing Coverage
Prosecutors described Chkhikvishvili, who also goes by 'Commander Butcher,' as the leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, an international extremist group that adheres to a 'neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology and promotes violence and violent acts against racial minorities, the Jewish community and other groups it deems 'undesirables.''
They said the group's violent solicitations — promoted through Telegram channels and outlined a manifesto called the 'Hater's Handbook' — appear to have inspired multiple real life killings, including a deadly shooting at Antioch High School earlier this year.
On Jan. 22, the Metro Nashville Police Department said 17-year-old Solomon Henderson opened fire inside Antioch High, killing 16-year-old Josselin Corea Escalante and injuring another student before taking his own life. Court filings show the attacker claimed he was doing it on behalf of the group MKY, which is another name for the Maniac Murder Cult.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the Antioch gunman mentioned 'Commander Butcher' by name in the audio recording left before the shooting.
Juvenile court records of Antioch school shooter released
Since 2022, Chkhikvishvili has traveled on multiple occasions to Brooklyn, where he bragged about beating up an elderly Jewish man and instructed others, primarily through text messages, to commit violent acts on behalf of the Maniac Murder Cult, according to court papers.
When he was approached by an undercover FBI agent in 2023, Chkhikvishvili recruited the official to a scheme that '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,' according to the DOJ.
He later suggested narrowing the focus to 'dead Jewish kids,' prosecutors said, after noting that 'Jews are literally everywhere' in Brooklyn.
Describing his desire to carry out a mass casualty attack, Chkhikvishvili said he saw the United States as 'big potential because accessibility to firearms,' adding that the undercover should consider targeting homeless people because the government wouldn't care 'even if they die,' according to court papers.
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He was arrested last July in Moldova, where he was held prior to this week's extradition.
In a statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the case was 'a stark reminder of the kind of terrorism we face today: online networks plotting unspeakable acts of violence against children, families, and the Jewish community in pursuit of a depraved, extremist ideology.'
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