Overview
- Georgian national Michail Chkhikvishvili, 22, admitted to recruiting for the neo-Nazi Maniac Murder Cult and to sending bomb-making and ricin instructions.
- He used Telegram to solicit violence beginning in 2022 and by November 2023 was plotting a New Year’s Eve mass-casualty attack using a Santa disguise to hand out poisoned candy.
- In January he directed an undercover FBI employee to target Jewish schools and children in Brooklyn with poison and provided detailed manuals on lethal agents including ricin.
- Prosecutors say his propaganda, including the Hater’s Handbook, preceded attacks in Eskisehir, Turkey in August 2024 and the January 2025 Antioch High School shooting in Nashville.
- He was extradited from Moldova to the Eastern District of New York in May 2025 and now faces a statutory maximum of 40 years, with sentencing set for March 9 and guidelines estimated at 14 to 17½ years.