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 No.v. 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.
Chkhikvishvili 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.
