Neo-Nazi leader Michail Chkhikvishvili, 22, originally from Georgia, pleaded guilty Monday in a Brooklyn federal court to promoting hate crimes and recruiting followers to carry out violent attacks in the United States. The Department of Justice confirmed that the young man, known in his group as “Commander Butcher,” was extradited from Moldova in May 2025 to face US justice. According to the prosecution, the leader of the Maniac Murder cult devised a New Year's Eve plan to recruit an accomplice to dress up as Santa Claus and distribute poisoned candy to Jewish and other minority children in New York. After the attack, the perpetrator was to burn the disguise and destroy the phones used to avoid being identified.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. stated that the defendant “admitted to his vile actions, including recruiting others to commit acts of violence against Jewish and minority children.”

Manual of Hate and Inspiration for Real Attacks

Chkhikvishvili is also the author of the so-called Hater's Manual, a document distributed since 2021 via Telegram with instructions for carrying out school shootings, making bombs, and mixing lethal substances such as ricin. Authorities say his texts have inspired at least two violent attacks, one of them in the United States.

In January 2025, a 17-year-old student killed one person and injured another at Antioch High School in Nashville before taking his own life. The attacker claimed to be acting on behalf of Maniac Murder and another extremist group. In Turkey, another follower explicitly mentioned Chkhikvishvili before stabbing five people outside a mosque, dressed in Nazi symbols. The FBI foiled his plans with an undercover agent. The main plot was unraveled when the neo-Nazi leader asked a suspected collaborator to carry out bomb attacks and arson against Jews and racial minorities.However, the person he was speaking with was an undercover FBI agent. According to federal authorities, Chkhikvishvili provided detailed manuals with instructions for creating explosives and poisons, including ricin, and encouraged the agent to carry out further attacks on schools and Jewish communities in Brooklyn when the first plan failed. He faces decades behind bars. With his guilty plea, Chkhikvishvili faces a maximum sentence of up to 40 years in prison. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that “violent, nihilistic, and racist groups like these pose a constant threat to the American people; our vigilance will not waver as we protect our citizens.” Sentencing will be announced in the coming months, and authorities have not ruled out filing additional charges related to inciting hate crimes and domestic terrorism.