A federal judge in Brooklyn has sentenced the leader of an Eastern European neo-Nazi group to 15 years in prison for attempting to recruit individuals to commit violent attacks against Jews and racial minorities. The sentence was handed down on Wednesday to Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 22-year-old from Georgia who goes by the alias “Commander Butcher.”
Guilty plea and apology
Chkhikvishvili pleaded guilty in November to soliciting hate crimes and distributing information about manufacturing bombs and ricin. In a letter to the judge last month, he expressed remorse: “I acknowledge that my actions have brought harm by spreading hatred and violence and I’m truly sorry for that.”
Defence arguments
His lawyer, Zachary Taylor, requested a five-year sentence, citing Chkhikvishvili’s mental health struggles since adolescence. Taylor argued that his client “fell under the spell of the violent extremist content” on social media but has since reformed. The defence also highlighted harsh conditions during Chkhikvishvili’s nearly yearlong confinement in Moldova, where he was arrested in 2024 on an international warrant.
Prosecution details
Prosecutors described Chkhikvishvili as the leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, an international extremist group that adheres to a neo-Nazi ideology promoting violence intended to trigger a racial and religious war. They stated that the group’s violent solicitations—promoted through Telegram channels and outlined in the “Hater’s Handbook”—appear to have inspired multiple real-life killings, including a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, last year that left a 16-year-old student dead.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said in a statement: “Chkhikvishvili repeatedly called for the murder of innocent civilians, including children, and schemed to attack and terrorize Jewish communities and racial minorities in the United States. For example, he tried to recruit a supposed associate to dress up as Santa Claus and pass out poisoned candy to minority children.”
The “Hater’s Handbook”
Since 2021, prosecutors said Chkhikvishvili distributed the “Hater’s Handbook” to members and others. In his letter to the judge, he wrote: “I’m very ashamed authoring Haters Handbook, hoping one day it will disappear, I wish I never wrote it.”
Undercover operation
Prosecutors said Chkhikvishvili traveled to Brooklyn in 2022 and began repeatedly encouraging others to commit hate crimes and other acts of violence. In 2023, he solicited an undercover FBI employee to commit bombings and arsons “for the purpose of harming racial minorities, Jewish individuals and others.” In 2024, the undercover worker was directed “to target the Jewish community, Jewish schools, and Jewish children in Brooklyn with poison,” prosecutors said. “Chkhikvishvili sent detailed manuals about creating and mixing lethal poisons and gases, including ricin.”
