Neo-Nazi leader gets 15 years for recruiting violent attacks, including a Santa poison plot

"The leader of an Eastern European neo-Nazi group has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for trying to recruit others to commit violent attacks against Jews and racial minorities, including one plot that would have involved dressing as Santa Claus to hand out poisoned candy to children."

"Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 22-year-old from the country of Georgia who goes by the nickname “Commander Butcher,” was sentenced by a federal judge in Brooklyn on Wednesday. He pleaded guilty in November to soliciting hate crimes and distributing information about making bombs and ricin."

"“I acknowledge that my actions have brought harm by spreading hatred and violence and I'm truly sorry for that,” Chkhikvishvili wrote in a letter to the judge last month. His lawyer, Zachary Taylor, asked for a five-year sentence, citing Chkhikvishvili's mental health struggles since he was a teenager who “fell under the spell of the violent extremist content” on social media, but has since reformed."

"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 said 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."

A federal judge in Brooklyn sentenced Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 22-year-old from Georgia known as “Commander Butcher,” to 15 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to soliciting hate crimes and distributing information about making bombs and ricin. He acknowledged harm from spreading hatred and violence and apologized to the judge. Prosecutors described him as the leader of an international neo-Nazi extremist group, the Maniac Murder Cult, promoting violence to trigger a racial and religious war. Prosecutors said his violent solicitations were promoted through Telegram channels and a “Hater’s Handbook,” and they appeared to inspire real-life killings, including a Nashville school shooting that killed a 16-year-old student. The sentencing followed a plot involving dressing as Santa Claus to hand out poisoned candy to children.

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