Michail Chkhikvishvili isn’t exactly a household name, but he’s been busy trying to change that in the worst ways possible. The 22-year-old Georgian national, better known online as “Commander Butcher,” has now officially pleaded guilty in federal court to soliciting hate crimes and distributing instructions on how to make bombs and ricin. This is the same man prosecutors say helped lead the Maniac Murder Cult (MKY), a neo-Nazi group that pushes its followers to commit violence to spark a race war. Charming.

According to the Department of Justice, MKY’s propaganda, especially its lovely little manifesto, the “Hater’s Handbook,” has inspired real-world violence across multiple countries. And now there’s a guilty plea to cement just how serious this operation has become. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of up to 18 years, which frankly feels light for a guy who tried to organize mass poisoning attacks on Jewish kids.

One of Chkhikvishvili’s most grotesque schemes was straight out of a horror movie. Dress up as Santa Claus, hand out poisoned candy, and let the bodies pile up. When that plan shifted, he pivoted to trying to poison students at Jewish schools in Brooklyn. The man truly embraced the “work smarter, not harder” approach to terrorism.

Chkhikvishvili’s handiwork didn’t stop at planning future atrocities. Prosecutors say MKY propaganda directly influenced the Antioch High School shooting in Nashville this past January, the same shooting where 17-year-old Solomon Henderson murdered a classmate before killing himself. Henderson referenced MKY, mentioned Chkhikvishvili by name, and even said he intended to mark his gun with the MKY founder’s name. It’s one of the more bizarre ideological incongruities in modern extremism: a Black teenager idolizing a white-supremacist cult operating out of Eastern Europe. Logic is optional when you’re chasing infamy.

The newly released court filings also confirm just how openly Chkhikvishvili discussed his goals with an undercover FBI agent. He bragged about beating an elderly Jewish man in Brooklyn and tried to recruit others into MKY’s violent fantasies. And when he talked about attacking the United States, he didn’t mince words. America, he claimed, had “big potential” as a terror target because of its easy access to firearms. He also suggested going after homeless people because “the government wouldn’t care even if they die.”

And here’s the nauseating part. Even a neo-Nazi cult leader scumbag understands what our lawmakers don’t. The United States is, by design, the easiest country in the developed world for extremists to weaponize. You don’t need a sophisticated terror network when you can walk into Walmart and build your own rebellion aisle by aisle. Chkhikvishvili recognized that immediately.

His disgustingly casual comment about targeting the homeless also isn’t coming out of nowhere. When a society treats entire populations as disposable, extremists see opportunity. They look for the cracks in our systems, the ignored communities, and the people no one will fight for. And they imagine how much blood could be spilled without consequence.

So here we are. An international neo-Nazi leader admits to plotting mass murder, admits the U.S. is an easy mark because of its gun laws, and admits he targeted groups he believed no one would defend. Somehow that still won’t be enough to shake policymakers from their stupor.

But hey, I’m sure someone will offer “thoughts and prayers” and call it a day.

(Source)

• Neo-Nazi leader admits plot to give poisoned candy to Jewish kids in New York