Overview
- Michail Chkhikvishvili, 22, was sentenced Wednesday in Brooklyn to concurrent 180-month terms by U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon.
- Prosecutors said he led the Maniac Murder Cult, recruited on encrypted apps like Telegram, and circulated a “Hater’s Handbook” urging mass violence and explaining bombs and ricin.
- He urged an undercover FBI employee to carry out bombings and arsons and proposed a New Year’s Eve plan to pose as Santa and hand out poisoned candy, later directing targets at Jewish schools and children in Brooklyn.
- He was arrested in Moldova in 2024, extradited to the United States in May 2025, and pleaded guilty in November, with the judge saying he was punished for his “calls to action.”
- Authorities linked his propaganda to real attacks, including the January 2025 Antioch High School shooting in Nashville, a connection victims described in court as worsening their trauma.