Georgian white supremacist leader sentenced to 15 years for hate crimes

A Georgian national who led an international white supremacist extremist group was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for soliciting hate crimes and distributing instructions for making bombs and ricin, Justice Department officials announced.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, also known as “Commander Butcher,” was sentenced in federal court in Brooklyn by U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon. Prosecutors identified Chkhikvishvili as a leader of Maniac Murder Cult — also known as “MKY” and “MMC” — a Neo-Nazi organization that promotes violence against racial minorities, Jewish communities and others the group labels “undesirables.”

Chkhikvishvili was extradited from Moldova to the Eastern District of New York in May 2025 and pleaded guilty in November.

Prosecutors said Chkhikvishvili in late 2023 began planning a mass casualty attack in New York City for New Year’s Eve that involved having someone disguise themselves as Santa Claus and distribute candy laced with poison to racial minorities. The plot evolved in January 2024, when Chkhikvishvili directed an undercover FBI employee to target Jewish schools and children in Brooklyn with poison, sending detailed instructions for producing ricin and other lethal substances, according to prosecutors.

Since approximately September 2021, Chkhikvishvili distributed a manifesto called the “Hater’s Handbook” to group members and others. Prosecutors said the document encourages mass violence, including school shootings, and includes Chkhikvishvili’s claim that he has “murdered for the white race.”

Authorities said Chkhikvishvili’s rhetoric and propaganda were linked to multiple attacks around the world. In January 2025, a 17-year-old student killed one person and wounded another before dying by suicide at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee. In an audio recording posted online before the attack, the student claimed he was acting on behalf of Maniac Murder Cult, and the attacker’s manifesto explicitly mentioned Chkhikvishvili.

In August 2024, an attacker in Eskisehir, Turkey, livestreamed himself stabbing five people outside a mosque while wearing a vest bearing Nazi symbols. A manifesto attributed to the attacker included references to Chkhikvishvili and his violent statements. Before the attack, the assailant also distributed a link to the Hater’s Handbook and other violent propaganda.

“Chkhikvishvili, a leader of the ’Maniacs Murder Cult,’ repeatedly called for the murder of innocent civilians, including children,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, with assistance from the NYPD, the State Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the government of Moldova.