The alleged leader of a neo-Nazi organization has been indicted on charges that he was planning a mass attack in which a person dressed as Santa Claus would have distributed poisoned candy to racial minorities and Jewish children in New York City.
Michail Chkhikvishvili, 21, is a Georgian national who is alleged to be a leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, also known as MKY. Based in Russia and Ukraine, the extremist group promotes acts of violence and mass murder against racial minorities, the Jewish community, and other groups it deems as "undesirables," according to court documents.
"As alleged, the defendant sought to recruit others to commit violent attacks and killings in furtherance of his Neo-Nazi ideologies," U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said in a statement. "His goal was to spread hatred, fear and destruction by encouraging bombings, arson and even poisoning children, for the purpose of harming racial minorities, the Jewish community and homeless individuals."
Chkhikvishvili was arrested in Moldova earlier this month and indicted by a federal grand jury in Brooklyn on Wednesday. He faces four counts of soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence.
Prosecutors allege that in September 2021, Chkhikvishvili started distributing a manifesto he wrote called the "Hater's Handbook," which outlines MKY principles. The handbook describes ways for members to further the group's white supremacist mission through acts of mass violence, such as school shootings and attacks on "large outdoor festivals, conventions, celebrations and parades."
In September 2023, according to court documents, Chkhikvishvili told an undercover FBI agent who was posing as a prospective MKY recruit that they needed to commit violent hate crimes as an initiation to join MKY. Chkhikvishvili advised the agent that the victims should be "low race targets" and asked for video proof of brutal beatings, arson and murder.
Chkhikvishvili sent instructions to the undercover agent for the Santa Claus mass casualty attack scheme in November 2023. According to court documents, the attack was intended to be executed on New Year's Eve, though Chkhikvishvili was willing to push the attack to January if needed.
Chkhikvishvili provided step-by-step instructions on how to extract ricin poison from castor beans to put in the candy. He suggested targeting the Jewish community and distributing the candy in Brooklyn, where he said "Jews are literally everywhere."
Once the poisoned candy was given to, in Chkhikvishvili's words, "many racial minorities and traitors," the plan instructed the agent to take a taxi to an unspecified location to burn the Santa costume. Chkhikvishvili also said that the agent should leave stockings full of poisoned candy in random apartments.
Prior to the undercover agent's contact with Chkhikvishvili, he traveled between the U.S. and Georgia several times in 2022 — including a stay with his grandmother in Brooklyn — while communicating with U.S.-based MKY members.
Officials said they will continue to pursue any international leads in the case.
"We will not hesitate to find and prosecute those who threaten the safety and freedoms of all members of our community, including members of minority communities, no matter where in the world these criminals might be hiding," Peace said.
If convicted, Chkhikvishvili faces a total of 50 years in prison across all four counts, including a maximum of 20 years for soliciting violent felonies and 20 years for distributing information pertaining to the making and use of explosive devices.
Copyright 2024 NPR
