Feds: Sarasota man planned extremist violence, faces gun and sex abuse charges

SARASOTA, Fla. — A 20-year-old Sarasota man faces up to 20 years in federal prison after being indicted on charges of possessing an unregistered firearm, possession of a firearm with a removed serial number, and receipt of child sexual abuse material.

According to the Department of Justice, federal agents served a search warrant at Justin Temple's Sarasota home on November 20, 2025. They said they found a shotgun with a sawed-off barrel that was not registered to Temple. The DOJ said federal law prohibits the possession of shotguns with barrels fewer than 18 inches in length without registration in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

During the search, agents said they also found evidence that Temple had been plotting a racially motivated act of violence. The DOJ said evidence included pipe bombs, multiple firearms, ammunition, a pressure cooker, literature on how to manufacture explosives, and a written plan detailing his intentions.

Plot of racially motivated act of violence

Temple, according to prosecutors, had Nazi and mass shooting propaganda materials, including the journals of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, the shooters of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. Agents said they also found a large flag bearing the Atomwaffen Division symbol.

The DOJ said the Atomwaffen Division is a US-based racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist group. The group's targets have included racial minorities, the Jewish community, the LGBTQ community, the United States Government, journalists, and critical infrastructure, according to prosecutors. The organization's ideology largely focuses on accelerationism, meaning the goal is to push society into armed conflict in an effort to create a radical social transformation, the DOJ said.

Federal agents said they learned that Temple had been communicating with other ideologically aligned individuals online about conducting violence against minorities and providing instructions on how to manufacture explosives.

Agents said they also discovered that Temple received images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct on at least two occasions.

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