From the Liveblog of
Friday, May 23, 2025
Moldova extradites ‘Commander Butcher’ neo-Nazi to US for planning mass killings of New York Jews
Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.
A neo-Nazi known as “Commander Butcher” is extradited from Moldova to the US for planning mass casualty attacks against Jewish New Yorkers.
Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 21-year-old Georgian national, was arrested in July 2024 and charged with soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence. Chkhikvishvili is a leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, an international, violent extremist group, the US Department of Justice says.
Chkhikvishvili promotes neo-Nazi white supremacist ideology and instructed others to commit violence for ethnic cleansing, including an undercover FBI agent, leading to his arrest.
Chkhikvishvili instructed the agent to use arson, explosives, poison and beatings against “low race targets,” including Jews. One of his schemes involved having an assailant dress up as Santa Claus and hand out poisoned candy to racial minorities.
Michail Chkhikvishvili, aka "Butcher" has finally been extradited from Moldova to the US to face charges. Butcher was the de facto leader of the Ukraine-based Satanic terrorist group, Maniac Murder Cult (MKU). He was plotting a terror attack involving handing out poisoned candy… https://t.co/aKSH9kHFx1 pic.twitter.com/24u9oZ2MLc
— Bx (@bx_on_x) May 23, 2025
Earlier this year, Chkhikvishvili told the undercover agent to poison Jewish schools and Jewish children in Brooklyn. He sent the agent step-by-step instructions about creating poisons and gases.
In 2024, a man wearing Nazi symbols stabbed five people at a mosque in Turkey, after issuing a manifesto that referenced Chkhikvishvili.
Chkhikvishvili will be indicted in a federal court in New York today.
The Times of Israel Community.