The leader of the neo-Nazi group, the Maniac Murder Cult, a Georgian citizen, has been detained in the United States. 20-year-old Mikheil Chkhikvishvili planned to kill Jewish school children in Brooklyn, New York, with poisoned sweets.
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Based on the information of the Federal Prosecutor's Office, Mikheil Chkhikvishvili is accused of planning a mass attack on Jews and racial minorities, as well as encouraging others to commit similar violent acts. He was wanted by Interpol and was arrested in Moldova on July 6.
According to the indictment, Chkhikvishvili arrived in Brooklyn, New York, with his grandmother in June 2022. He is believed to have encouraged others to commit violent hate crimes and other acts of violence in the name of the "Maniacal Murder Cult" since at least July, mostly through encrypted mobile messaging platforms. One of the people he contacted was an undercover agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). According to the prosecutor's office, in September 2023, an undercover agent asked him how to join the "Maniacal Murder Cult," to which Chkhikvishvili replied that they ask people to make videos of brutal beatings, arson/explosions, or murders, adding that "poisoning and arson are the best options for murder."
In November 2023, Chkhikvishvili started planning a mass attack, which was to be carried out in the New Year in New York City. The scheme involved dressing up as Santa Claus and distributing poisoned candy to racial minorities, including children at Jewish schools in Brooklyn. He gave the secret agent detailed instructions and manuals for implementing the plan, as well as for preparing the poison. According to case materials, some of the materials handed over by Chkhikvishvili to the agent were related to radical Islamist jihadist groups and the terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS).
Chkhikvishvili intended the planned attack to be a "bigger action than Breivik," referring to Norwegian neo-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011. He claimed to have committed hate crimes while living in Brooklyn in 2022. "I'm glad that I killed him," he bragged, adding that he "would have killed more," but first and foremost, he forced others to commit murder, according to the prosecutor's office.
The crimes charged against the Georgian citizen are punishable by up to 50 years of imprisonment. The so-called Maniac Murder Cult is an international extremist group that, according to the U.S. The Attorney's Office promotes acts of violence against racial minorities, the Jewish community, and other groups it considers "undesirable."
