Trump Admin Extradites ‘Commander Butcher’ Of ‘Maniac Murder Cult’ Who Planned NYC Terror Attack

A Georgian national known as “Commander Butcher,” linked to an attempted distribution of poisoned candy to children on New Year’s Eve 2023, appeared in federal court in Brooklyn on Friday.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, commander of the white supremacist “Maniac Murder Cult,” was extradited to the U.S. from Moldova on Thursday after being held in the Eastern European country for nearly a year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a press release Friday.

The accused neo-Nazi’s 2023 plot to distribute poisoned candy via an accomplice dressed up as Santa Claus was specifically targeted at racial minorities and children attending a Jewish school in Brooklyn. According to the DOJ’s release, Chkhikvishvili also recruited his cult members to commit bombings against Jewish people and racial minorities.

The Georgian national is allegedly tied to a school shooting in January, where a 17-year-old gunman livestreamed his attack on Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee, before committing suicide, according to 6ABC Action News. Chkhikvishvili is also alleged in connection with an August 2024 knife attack in Turkey and an April 2022 murder in Romania, Action News reported.