Georgian national extradited over alleged NYC poison candy plot

Authorities transported Georgian national Michail Chkhikvishvili to the United States for a federal arraignment, according to a Friday statement from the Department of Justice. A federal indictment accused the 21-year-old of soliciting hate crimes and mass violence in New York City, specifically targeting racial and ethnic minorities.

All defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Chkhikvishvili is accused of recruiting others to kill Jewish people, kill racial minorities, and even target children with poisoned candy around the holidays, according to FBI Director Kash Patel. Court filings described Chkhikvishvili as the leader of the white supremacist group Maniac Murder Cult, an international violent extremist organization. He also actively distributed copies of a manifesto encouraging acts of mass violence, specifically against racial and ethnic minorities, the DOJ added.

What is he accused of doing? Chkhikvishvili traveled to Brooklyn in 2022 and began to solicit people to commit hate crimes and other acts of violence on behalf of the cult, including one to an undercover FBI agent. People can join the cult if they commit a brutal beating, arson attack, or murder and record it, Chkhikvishvili allegedly told the undercover agent. In late 2023, Chkhikvishvili encouraged the undercover agent to commit a violent crime like arson against a racial minority group. The cult leader shared bomb-making instructions and tips on making Molotov cocktails for the suggested attacks.

At the same time, Chkhikvishvili started planning a separate attack in New York City, scheming for someone to dress up as Santa Claus and hand out candy laced with poison on New Year’s Eve, the DOJ alleged. By early 2024, Chkhikvishvili instructed the agent to target the Jewish community in Brooklyn with poison, specifically schools and children. The agent received step-by-step instructions on how to mix lethal poisons and gases and carry out Chkhikvishvili’s plan.

Was anyone actually hurt? The cult leader claimed to have previously committed other hate crimes while living in Brooklyn and boasted to others about previously committing murder, the DOJ shared. Prosecutors alleged that Chkhikvishvili’s solicitations of violence resulted in multiple attacks and killings around the world. A man in Turkey live streamed himself stabbing about five people outside of a mosque last summer. The attacker’s manifesto referenced Chkhikvishvili and included violent statements made by the cult leader, according to the DOJ.

Chkhikvishvili faces up to 20 years in prison for soliciting violent felonies and 20 years in prison for distributing information for the making and use of explosive devices and poison. He also faces five years in prison for conspiring to solicit violent felonies and five years for transmitting threatening communications, according to the DOJ.