An international neo-Nazi group leader accused of inspiring a teen to commit a school shooting in Tennessee has pleaded guilty to soliciting hate crimes in a plot to poison Jewish people in New York City, authorities said.
The terrorist group's leader, Michail Chkhikvishvili, who also goes by "Commander Butcher," pleaded guilty on Nov. 17 to soliciting hate crimes and sending instructions to make bombs and ricin, federal prosecutors said. The Georgian national was extradited from Moldova on May 22 after he was arrested there last July.
Officials have said the man was the leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, also known as MKY, and was responsible for orchestrating deadly attacks around the globe. Chkhikvishvili distributed a writing called the "Hater's Handbook," encouraging people to commit acts of mass violence such as school shootings and "ethnic cleansing," according to court filings. His "solicitations of violence" led to international attacks, prosecutors said.
Chkhikvishvishvili also targeted the United States as a site for attacks because of an ease of accessing firearms, prosecutors said.
He told an undercover law enforcement employee, "I see USA as big potential because accessibility to firearms and other resources," in an electronic message sent Sept. 8, 2023, court filings show.
Chkhikvishvili faces up to 40 years in prison. An attorney listed as representing Chkhikvishvili in court documents didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.
"Violent, nihilistic, racist groups like these are an ongoing threat to the American people - our vigilance will not waver as we protect our citizens," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.
Plot included giving poisoned candy to Jewish children
Chkhikvishvili traveled to Brooklyn in June 2022 and began encouraging others through messages on the Telegram platform to commit "violent hate crimes" on behalf of his group, prosecutors said. His charges stemmed from communications he had with an undercover law enforcement agent about a "mass casualty" plot targeting Jewish people in New York.
The scheme, which he began communicating to the agent about in November 2023, involved an individual wearing a Santa Claus costume and handing out poisoned candy to Jewish kids in New York City on New Year's Eve.
"Chkhikvishvili sent detailed manuals about creating and mixing lethal poisons and gases, including ricin," said a news release from the Department of Justice.
It later evolved into targeting Jewish people on a larger scale, prosecutors said in court filings and press releases. He said he wanted the attack to be a "bigger action than Breivik," prosecutors previously said. Breivik refers to Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in a massacre in Norway in 2011 that targeted mostly teenagers at a camp.
Chkhikvishvili also solicited the undercover agent to commit bombings and arsons targeting racial minorities, prosecutors said.
'Commander Butcher' inspired violent acts, including US school shooting
Chkhikvishvili's solicitations of violence inspired a Tennessee high school student to kill a classmate and himself at Antioch High School in January 2025, prosecutors said.
Josselin Corea Escalante, 16, died after the 17-year-old shot her with a pistol in the cafeteria of Antioch High School, the Nashville Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. Another student was injured during the attack. The shooter, 17-year-old student Solomon Henderson, then shot and killed himself.
Prosecutors said the teen shooter claimed in an audio recording that he was taking action on behalf of MKY and at least one other group. A 300-page document written by the shooter mentioned Chkhikvishvili's name and spewed racist ideologies.
Chkhikvishvili's writings encouraging violence also inspired a 2024 stabbing outside a mosque in Turkey, officials said.
Contributing: Evan Mealins, the Nashville Tennessean