4.9 KiB
| category | tags | summary | created | updated | location | relations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Law Enforcement & Legal |
|
Justin Sher is a Trial Attorney in the Justice Department's National Security Division Counterterrorism Section and lead federal prosecutor on 764 Network terrorism cases, including United States v. Martin. | 2026-05-22 | 2026-10-09 | Washington, D.C. |
|
Justin Sher is a Trial Attorney assigned to the U.S. Department of Justice National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section, where he has served as the lead government attorney on the 764 Network prosecution portfolio, including the prosecution of Baron Cain Martin in United States v. Martin (4-25-cr-00190), 4:25-cr-00190-TUC-AMM(BGM), D. Ariz., the first federal case in which a 764 member was charged under a terrorism statute.
764 Prosecution Portfolio
Sher's involvement spans multiple 764 and Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE) federal prosecutions across districts, coordinated through the National Security Division in Washington. Alongside James Donnelly, who serves as DOJ's designated NVE domestic terrorism coordinator, Sher represents the National Security Division's institutional investment in treating 764 not as a child exploitation enterprise but as a terrorist network subject to the full range of national security charging tools.
In the Martin indictment, Sher advanced the theory that 18 U.S.C. § 2339A (conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists) is available against 764 operators without any Foreign Terrorist Organization designation from the State Department, by anchoring the charge to an 18 U.S.C. § 956 conspiracy to kill or maim a victim located outside the United States.1
Sher is also one of the trial attorneys, with Donnelly, named by the Justice Department as prosecuting the case of 764 Inferno leaders Prasan Nepal and Leonidas Varagiannis (D.D.C., case 1:25-cr-00304).2 The indictment charges a child exploitation enterprise under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(g) and includes no terrorism count.3 The Justice Department's October 2026 release names Sher and Donnelly as the Trial Attorneys of the Counterterrorism Section prosecuting Nepal, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen Shinskie and Janani Iyengar for the District of Columbia.4
Public Statements
At a panel hosted by the GWU Program on Extremism on December 18, 2025, titled "Holding 764 Accountable," Sher described 764's stated objective as "to cause the downfall of society, cause the downfall of the U.S. government," and characterized the network's ideology as a desire for "a Darwinian society, one that is survival of the fittest." He stated that the conduct documented in 764 cases was so extreme that "I don't think Stephen King is dark enough to come up with some of the stuff that these kids are coming up with."5
In a subsequent appearance cited by ABC News, Sher and Donnelly together offered what were described as "rare public comments" for career DOJ prosecutors, characterizing 764 as a threat equal in seriousness to any the department had faced, and noting that network members are increasingly directing victims toward mass-casualty attacks including school shootings.5
Footnotes
-
Baumgartner, Luke, and Barry Jonas. "How the DOJ is Prosecuting Nihilistic Violent Extremism as Domestic Terrorism." Just Security, December 9, 2025. https://www.justsecurity.org/126226/prosecuting-nihilistic-violent-extremism-domestic-terrorism/ ↩︎
-
U.S. Department of Justice, USAO-DC. "Leaders of 764 Arrested and Charged for Operating Global Child Exploitation Enterprise." April 30, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/leaders-764-arrested-and-charged-operating-global-child-exploitation-enterprise ↩︎
-
Indictment, United States v. Prasan Nepal and Leonidas Varagiannis, No. 1:25-cr-00304-RBW (D.D.C.), Doc. 19, filed September 26, 2025, Count One. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.285418/gov.uscourts.dcd.285418.19.0.pdf ↩︎
-
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. "Leader of Global Violent Extremist Network '764' Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Sexually Exploit Minors." Press Release 26-1164, October 9, 2026. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leader-global-violent-extremist-network-764-pleads-guilty-conspiracy-sexually-exploit-minors ↩︎
-
ABC News. "In rare public comments, career DOJ officials offer chilling warnings about online network 764." 2026. https://abcnews.com/US/rare-public-comments-career-doj-officials-offer-chilling/story?id=128526657; GWU Program on Extremism. "Holding 764 Accountable." December 18, 2025. https://extremism.gwu.edu/holding-764-accountable ↩︎