Prosecutors say leader of neo-Nazi ‘murder cult’ plotted to feed poisoned candy to Jewish children in New York

NEW YORK (AP) — The leader of a neo-Nazi extremist group based in Eastern Europe has been charged with plotting to have an associate dress up as Santa Claus and distribute poisoned candy to Jewish children in New York City to spread terror, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 21-year-old Georgian, was charged with four counts, including incitement to hatred and mass violence, according to a statement from the U.S. Justice Department. It is unclear whether he has an attorney.

Chkhikvishvili, who goes by several aliases, including Commander Butcher, is believed to be the head of the Maniac Murder Cult, an international extremist group that prosecutors say adheres to a “neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology and promotes violence and violent acts against racial minorities, the Jewish community and other groups it deems ‘undesirable.'”

The goal of the Maniac Murder Cult is to disrupt social order and governments through terrorism and violent acts that promote fear and chaos, according to the announcement by Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York, and Executive Assistant Director Robert R. Wells of the FBI’s National Security Branch.

Chkhikvishvili was arrested after attempting to recruit an undercover law enforcement officer to join his group and commit violent crimes such as bombings and arson, according to court documents.

In November 2023, Chkhikvishvili began planning a “mass casualty event” in New York on New Year’s Eve, prosecutors said.

“The scheme involved an individual dressing up as Santa Claus and distributing poisoned candy to racial minorities and Jewish school children in Brooklyn,” the Justice Department statement said.

He “wrote step-by-step instructions for carrying out the project” and shared with the undercover agent “detailed manuals on creating and mixing poisons and deadly gases,” the statement said.

Prosecutors said that since September 2021, Chkhikvishvili has been distributing a manifesto titled “Hater’s Handbook” in which he declared that he had “killed for the white race” and encouraged others to do the same.

“For example, and among other things, the manual encourages its readers to commit school shootings and to use children to carry out suicide bombings and other mass killings targeting racial minorities,” the Justice Department said in its statement. “The document describes methods and strategies for committing mass ‘terrorist attacks,’ including using vehicles to target ‘large outdoor festivals, conventions, celebrations, and parades,’ and ‘crowded pedestrian malls.’ It specifically encourages attacks on U.S. soil.”

Chkhikvishvili traveled to New York at least twice in 2022 and stayed with his paternal grandmother in Brooklyn, officials said.

If convicted, Chkhikvishvili faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for solicitation of violent crimes, five years for conspiracy to solicit violent crimes, 20 years for disseminating information relating to the manufacture and use of explosive devices, and five years for transmitting threatening communications.