Georgian neo-nazi leader connected to Nashville school shooting

Michail Chkhikvishvili, 21, who goes by "Commander Butcher," distributed a self-authored "Hater's Handbook" encouraging readers to commit school shootings including the 17-year-old at Antioch High.

The leader of an Eastern European neo-Nazi cult was 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 school shooting at Antioch High School in Nashville earlier this year.

Since 2021, Michail Chkhikvishvili, 21, who goes by "Commander Butcher," has distributed a self-authored "Hater's Handbook" encouraging readers to commit school shootings and other mass "terror attacks." He is a Georgian citizen.

According to the DOJ, 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."

In January 2025, a 17-year-old student (pictured below) killed one student and injured another when he opened fire in the Antioch High cafeteria at lunch before turning the gun on himself. While he planned to kill dozens of students at the school, it’s unclear why he killed himself within seconds of firing the first shot (he also had extra ammo that wasn’t used). Prior to the attack, he mimicked photos posted by other teenage killers and neo-nazis.

"The Antioch High student livestreamed part of his attack. Prior to the attack, in an audio recording posted online, the 17-year-old attacker claimed he was taking action on behalf of MKY, Chkhikvishvili, 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."

A 50-page document posted on Twitter/X (owned by Elon Musk) contains selfies of what appears to be the shooter with far-right paraphernalia. He wrote about wanting to “take revenge” on society, praised Adolf Hitler, made statements against “race mixing”, and posted explicit photos from previous school shootings. His accounts also linked to “groyper” content—a term used with white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups—referring to young men who claim to be “involuntarily celibate” with violent misogynistic views. The 17-year-old Nashville student wrote:

“I just couldn’t take anymore. I am a worthless subhuman, a living breathing disgrace. All my (in real life) friends outgrew me act like they didn’t f–king know me. Being me was so f–king humiliating. That’s why I spend all day dissociating.”

More about Chkhikvishvili from The Guardian:

When he was approached by an undercover FBI agent in 2023, Chkhikvishvili recruited the official in a scheme that “involved an individual dressing up as Santa Claus and handing out candy laced with poison to racial minorities and children at Jewish schools in Brooklyn”, according to the US justice department.

He later suggested narrowing the focus to “dead Jewish kids”, prosecutors said, after noting that “Jews are literally everywhere” in Brooklyn.

Describing his desire to carry out a mass casualty attack, Chkhikvishvili said he saw the United States as “big potential because accessibility to firearms”, adding that the undercover agent should consider targeting homeless people because the government wouldn’t care “even if they die”, according to court papers.

Nazi influence on school shooters

Far right anti-government and white nationalist groups have discussed school shootings since the 1960s when James Mason—the godfather of the modern American neo-nazi movement—wrote this essay in his book Siege:

“I just wanted out but they weren’t going to throw me out. So it was headed for confrontation. I was headed for Boys Industrial School, and was told this was a prison for boys. I wasn’t going to let that happen of course, so I made up my mind in 1968 - my father had all kinds of weapons at home - and I was going to take a 44 magnum, which was a five-shot revolver, go into the staff office and take out the principal, assistant principal, and two of the guidance counselors, then finally myself.”

Siege is a collection of newsletters and essays originally published in the early 1980s, in which Mason promotes a violent, neo-nazi worldview. The text, which has gained notoriety among white nationalist and anti-government groups, argues for the destabilization of society through acts of aggression and terror (like school shootings).

The hashtag “ReadSiege” was widely spread on social media with the “Unite the Right” movement following the neo-nazi march and attack in Charlottesville, VA.

Here are a few examples of school shootings with connections to nazi and anti-government groups and beliefs. This is not an exhaustive list but rather a few examples that highlight the extent these attacks over the last 60 years.

Lansing Everett High School (1978)

At dismissal, a 15-year-old sophomore—who regularly wore a nazi pin to school—opened fire in a crowded hallway. Following his arrest, police searched the teen’s bedroom, where they discovered a cache of Nazi literature, Nazi armbands, a Nazi flag, and excerpts from “Mein Kampf.” They found an elaborate drawing of a concentration camp, complete with gas chambers, along with a diary called “My Struggle,” named after Hitler’s book. In one of the entries, he wrote: “I almost abandoned Hitler last night ─ out of being pushed too far by my colleagues. I almost went to school without my Nazi pin in my jacket. But luckily again I had a burst of courage and never again will I think about abandoning Mein Fuhrer and Nazism.”

Cokeville Elementary School (1986)

Cokeville, WY Elementary School hostage crisis occurred on May 16, 1986 when David Young, 43, and his wife Doris Young, 47, took 154 hostages – 136 children and 18 adults. The Youngs had ties to white supremacist groups, including the Posse Comitatus and the Aryan Nations. They demanded two million dollars per hostage and an audience with President Ronald Reagan. During a standoff with police, seventy students were severely burned when their homemade bombs detonated inside the school.

Columbine High School (1999)

On April 20, 1999—coincidentally or intentionally Hitler’s birthday (also the day after the Oklahoma City Bombing anniversary)—Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold carried out a mass shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. While there is debate over how deeply the shooters were influenced by nazi or racist ideologies, some evidence shows Eric Harris made references to Hitler in his personal writings. The selection of the date, alongside the content of certain journals, led many to believe they held a fascination with Hitler’s legacy.

Red Lake Senior High School (2005)

In March 2005, 16-year-old Jeff Weise opened fire at Red Lake Senior High School on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota. Weise, who was of Ojibwe descent, had previously posted on a neo-Nazi internet forum expressing admiration for Adolf Hitler and voicing racist sentiments despite his own Indigenous background. This contradictory identification with white supremacist ideas and nazi symbolism shows the power of extremist rhetoric over vulnerable teens.

Read more: Nazi influence on teenage school shooters

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David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database, Chief Data Officer at a global risk management firm, and a tenure-track professor. Listen to my weekly podcast—Back to School Shootings—or my recent interviews on Freakonomics Radio, New England Journal of Medicine, and my article on CNN about AI and school security.