WASHINGTON (TNND) — The alleged leader of a neo-Nazi cult was recently extradited to the United States from Moldova to face charges for soliciting hate crimes, planning a mass casualty attack in New York City and having connections to a deadly Nashville school shooting, according to the Department of Justice.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, 21, a Georgian national, was arraigned Friday in a federal court in Brooklyn, the DOJ said. His attorney entered a plea of not guilty plea and the judge ordered him detained, ABC News reported. A status conference was scheduled for June 11.

Chkhikvishvili was indicted last year for allegedly soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence in New York City, according to the DOJ. Officials said he was a leader of the "Maniac Murder Cult," also known as MYK, an international, racially-motivated violent extremist group that promotes violence against racial minorities, the Jewish community and other groups it deems "undesirables."

The DOJ said that since 2021, Chkhikvishvili, who also goes by "Commander Butcher," has distributed a self-authored "Hater's Handbook" encouraging readers to commit school shootings and other mass "terror attacks."

"The Hater’s Handbook describes methods and strategies for committing mass 'terror attacks,' including, for example, using vehicles to target 'large outdoor festivals, conventions, celebrations and parades' and 'pedestrian congested streets.' The Hater’s Handbook specifically encourages committing attacks within the United States," a DOJ release stated.

One example given by the DOJ included an attack in January 2025 when a 17-year-old student killed one person and injured another person before turning the gun on himself 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 DOJ wrote. "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."

Chkhikvishvili also allegedly solicited help in November 2023 for a mass casualty attack targeting Jews and other minorities in New York on New Year's Eve, but the person was actually an undercover FBI agent known as UC.

The DOJ said the scheme involved having a person dress up as Santa Claus and hand out candy laced with poison to racial minorities.

Additionally, an August 2024 knife attack in Turkey and the April 2022 murder of an elderly Romanian woman were connected to Chkhikvishvili's actions, according to the DOJ.

If convicted, Chkhikvishvili faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for solicitation of violent felonies, five years in prison for conspiring to solicit violent felonies, 20 years in prison for distributing information pertaining to the making and use of explosive devices and ricin poison and five years in prison for transmitting threatening communications.

“This case 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,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said. “The Department of Justice will not tolerate hate-fueled violence, and we will pursue those who threaten innocent lives wherever they may be.”