US arrests Neo-Nazi leader for hate crimes, planning to poison Jewish children in NYC

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U.S. authorities arrested Neo-Nazi leader Michail Chkhikvishvili for hate crimes and plotting various attacks, including one to murder Jewish children with poisoned candies in New York City.

The 21-year-old Chkhikvishvili, originally from the Republic of Georgia, eportedly headed a Neo-Nazi “murder cult” that promotes white supremacy. He is also known by the nickname, “Commander Butcher.”

Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Chkhikvishvili attempted to recruit other individuals to commit acts of violence.

“As alleged, the defendant sought to recruit others to commit violent attacks and killings in furtherance of his Neo-Nazi ideologies,” Peace stated. “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."

"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 added.

Chkhikvishvili’s plans reportedly included an unsuccessful attempt to recruit an undercover FBI agent to commit arson and deploy explosives. In November 2023, the Neo-Nazi leader allegedly planned to carry out a "mass casualty event" on Christmas Eve in New York.

"The scheme involved an individual dressing up as Santa Claus and handing out candy laced with poison to racial minorities and children at Jewish schools in Brooklyn,” the Justice Department wrote in its official statement.

In 2021, Chkhikvishvili had already begun to distribute his “Hater’s Handbook,” an official manifesto where he claimed he had "murdered for the white race" and urged others to attack and kill racial minorities.

"The handbook encourages its readers to commit school shootings and to use children to perpetrate suicide bombings and other mass killings targeting racial minorities," the U.S. Justice Department assessed.

Chkhikvishvili, who officially resides with his grandmother in Brooklyn, potentially faces 20 years in prison.

The New York metropolitan area is home to over one million Jews, the largest concentration of Jews outside Israel. Hatred against Jews and Israel has reportedly increased significantly since the Hamas Oct. 7 terrorist attack that killed 1,200 Israelis. Antisemitism has particularly exploded on New York’s Columbia University and other American college campuses.

In November, a report from the Network Contagion Research Institute documented a connection between rising antisemitism and large amounts of undisclosed donations to U.S. academic institutions from Qatar and other totalitarian regimes in the Middle East.

"A massive influx of foreign, concealed donations to American institutions of higher learning, much of it from authoritarian regimes with notable support from Middle Eastern sources, reflects or supports heightened levels of intolerance towards Jews, open inquiry, and free expression," the report stated.

In June, New York leaders and the White House condemned antisemitic rhetoric from activists opposed to a Nova Music Festival exhibition that documented the Hamas massacre of 364 Israelis and foreign nationals who attended the outdoor event leading up to the Oct. 7 attack.