Alleged ‘Maniac Murder Cult’ Leader Indicted Over Plot to Kill Jews

Federal prosecutors successful Brooklyn connected Tuesday unsealed a sweeping felony indictment against the 20-year-old they accidental is the caput of a convulsive Eastern European skinhead pack implicated successful a fig of assaults and attacks abroad, immoderate of them fatal. The gang, known asManiac Murder Cult oregon MKY, is connected to the com/764 pedophilia network, with astatine slightest 1 sidesplitting successful Romania straight connected to MKY.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, different known arsenic “Commander Butcher,” “Michael,” and “Mishka,” was arrested connected an Interpol warrant connected July 6 successful Chișinău, Moldova, for allegedly conspiring to solicit attacks connected stateless people, Jews, and different radical minorities successful New York City, distributing explosives-making instructions, and making convulsive threats successful online conversations with an undercover FBI employee. One crippled prosecutors accidental helium concocted with the undercover fed progressive poisoning Jewish children by handing retired tainted candy portion dressed arsenic Santa Claus connected New Year’s Eve 2023.

Chkhikvishvili remains successful custody successful Moldova—which has antecedently collaborated with the US connected the extradition of noncitizens—and has yet to beryllium extradited to the United States and marque his archetypal quality successful court. He has not been assigned an attorney. If convicted, helium faces a imaginable condemnation of decades successful an American prison.

The feds allege that Chkhikvishvili tried to incite the undercover cause into further attacks with either edged weapons oregon molotov cocktails and that helium claimed that the planned onslaught would beryllium a “bigger enactment than Breivik,” referring to Anders Breivik, the Norwegian neo-Nazi who killed 77 radical successful 2011.

According to the FBI, MKY adheres to a “neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology and promotes unit and convulsive acts against radical minorities, the Jewish community, and different groups it deems “Undesirables.” Much similar different accelerationist militants specified arsenic the Atomwaffen Division and The Base, MKY seeks to destabilize nine done unit and terrorism. It was founded successful the Ukrainian metropolis of Dnipro by Yegor Krasnov and is accused of galore homicides and assaults successful some Russia and Ukraine. In their Telegram channels, MKY members lionized in-person unit and distributed how-to guides connected committing convulsive assaults and shootings, causing maximum harm to victims, and however perpetrators could screen their tracks. Committing and documenting specified an onslaught is the criteria for admittance to MKY.

There are extended ties betwixt MKY and 764. That confederation was developed by Chkhikvishvili himself, peculiarly done interaction with 2 764 members who went by the handles of “Xor” and “Kush,” some of whom stay unidentified. “Tobbz,” a troubled young German who killed an aged pistillate and stabbed a antheral successful 2022, had besides joined MKU, according to reporting by Der Spiegel and Recorder.

The US Attorney’s bureau for New York’s Eastern District is besides prosecuting 2 related cases: the kid maltreatment and CSAM organisation lawsuit against 764 subordinate Angel Almeida, whose Fall 2021 apprehension was the feds’ archetypal glimpse into the satellite of com, 764, and MKY; and the lawsuit against Nicholas Welker, the alleged erstwhile caput of the neo-Nazi radical Feuerkrieg Division, who was convicted successful April for threatening a Brooklyn-based journalist. According to tribunal records, Welker and Chkhikvishvili were successful interaction from July 2022 to March 2023, erstwhile Welker was arrested and charged.

Chkhikvishvili, a Georgian national, was contiguous successful the United States successful 2022, according to an affidavit by FBI peculiar cause Erica Dobin of the New York City Joint Terrorism Task Force. US authorities accidental helium visited his woman successful California successful March and April of that year, accusation the FBI learned aft interviewing the young pistillate astir her virulent neo-Nazi societal media posts. Shortly thereafter, Chkhikvishvili traveled to Brooklyn, wherever helium stayed with his grandparents and worked successful a rehab installation taking attraction of an aged Orthodox Jewish patient. “I’m moving successful rehab halfway privately successful Jewish family,” helium messaged different neo-Nazi successful July 2022. “I get paid to torture dying jew, I deliberation I astir killed him today.” Chkhikvishvili sent aggregate images of the diligent to his chap extremist. The diligent died aboriginal that year, though the authorities does not allege that Chkhikvishvili caused his death.

It is unclear erstwhile Chkhikvishvili near the United States. Federal prosecutors springiness his spot of residence arsenic Tbilisi, Georgia, adjacent though helium was arrested successful a Balkan state connected the other broadside of the Black Sea.

In allegedly urging the undercover fed to perpetrate acts of unit and grounds them, Chkhikvishvili repeatedly emphasized the lethal level of unit MKY members employed successful their attacks, prosecutors say. “We execution they larp,” helium allegedly wrote to different extremist portion comparing MKY to different neo-Nazi group, referring to “live enactment relation play.” Even portion allegedly readying the wide poisoning strategy with the undercover FBI agent, prosecutors say, Chkhikvishvili did not shy distant from the imaginable “heat” the undercover cause warned it would bring connected MKY: “That’s what we precisely want,” helium wrote successful reply.