The Daily Populous Sunday May 25th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by abcnews.go.com and submitted by AudibleNod

This photo provided by Metro Nashville Police, emergency personnel gather outside Antioch High School after a shooting incident, Jan. 22, 2025 in Nashville, Tenn.

The alleged leader of a neo-Nazi cult based overseas has been extradited to the United States and accused of "multiple senseless killings" around the world, including the shooting at Antioch High School in Nashville earlier this year that left one student dead and another injured, according to the Justice Department.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, a Georgian national arrested in Moldova last year, was arraigned Friday in U.S. federal court in Brooklyn, the DOJ said. His attorney entered a plea of not guilty to the charges and the judge ordered him detained. A status conference in the case was scheduled for June 11.

Chkhikvishvili was indicted last year on several federal charges, including two counts of soliciting hate crimes and other violent attacks. According to the DOJ, he was a leader of the "Maniac Murder Cult," a Russian and Ukrainian-based extremist group also known as "MKY" that promotes violence against racial minorities, the Jewish community, and others it deems "undesirables."

In announcing his indictment last year, the DOJ said Chkhikvishvili – who allegedly also goes by the moniker "Commander Butcher" – distributed a self-authored "Hater's Handbook" encouraging readers to commit school shootings and other mass "terror attacks," providing suggested methods and strategies.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, a Georgian national arrested in Moldova last year, is scheduled to be arraigned in U.S. federal court in Brooklyn, seen in a filing from the Department of Justice. Department of Justice

The DOJ also said he planned and solicited help for a mass casualty attack targeting Jews and other minorities in New York City on New Year's Eve, but the person he solicited was actually an undercover FBI agent.

Since his arrest in July of last year, Chkhikvishvili had been held in Moldova. But he is now expected to appear is a U.S. federal court on Friday, and federal prosecutors hope a federal judge will agree to keep him detained pending trial, according to the DOJ filing.

"The defendant's repeated solicitations of violence have had the intended effect. They have directly resulted in real violence, including multiple senseless killings, in the United States and around the world," the Justice Department said in its filing.

As an example, the DOJ wrote: "In January 2025, a 17-year-old student killed one individual and injured another before committing suicide inside Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee. The attacker livestreamed part of the attack. Prior to the attack, in an audio recording posted online and attributed to him, the attacker claimed he was taking action on behalf of MKY and at least one other group. The attacker's [writings] explicitly mentioned the defendant by name and included numerous references to MKY's founder, Yegor Krasnov. The attacker stated that he would write Krasnov's name on his gun."

Flowers and stuffed animals are seen at a memorial for victims of a shooting at Antioch High School, Jan. 23, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. George Walker IV/AP

The DOJ also said an August 2024 knife attack in Turkey and the April 2022 murder of an elderly woman in Romania were connected to Chkhikvishvili's actions.

"The defendant has consistently demonstrated that he is capable of orchestrating deadly attacks from behind a computer screen at home," the Justice Department added. "Moreover, the defendant has repeatedly stated that he has committed acts of violence and that he intends to commit more. The Court should take the defendant at his word and detain him in the interest of public safety."

In a statement issued Friday, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the case against Chkhikvishvili "is a stark reminder of the kind of terrorism we face today: online networks plotting unspeakable acts of violence against children, families, and the Jewish community in pursuit of a depraved, extremist ideology."

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

songsofsilk on May 24th, 2025 at 21:57 UTC »

A Georgian national neo-Nazi? Alright, the world is a weird place, but the Nazis committed war crimes in the Caucuses during their push to the oil fields in 1942…

NKD_WA on May 24th, 2025 at 21:51 UTC »

Do they got a cabinet position lined up for him yet?

AudibleNod on May 24th, 2025 at 21:50 UTC »

> Michail Chkhikvishvili, a Georgian national arrested in Moldova last year, was arraigned Friday in U.S. federal court in Brooklyn, the DOJ said. His attorney entered a plea of not guilty to the charges and the judge ordered him detained. A status conference in the case was scheduled for June 11.

It's crazy that Nazis are still a thing. Identifying as loser seems like a weird choice.