I Stand With John tells the devastating story of John Allen Mast, a father whose years-long custody battle involved allegations of domestic violence and child abuse, prolonged separation from his children, enormous legal and emotional consequences, and an ultimately tragic ending.

John spent years fighting allegations made during his custody dispute. His father, Robert Mast, later told the North Dakota Legislature that false allegations of sexual misconduct initiated a lengthy and costly legal battle, prolonged John’s separation from his children, and caused tremendous suffering for the family. Robert stated that the family court eventually found his son innocent and that John was preparing to reunite with his children. 

John never got that reunion.

On February 5, 2021, John arrived at a grocery-store parking lot in Lewiston, Idaho, expecting to begin court-ordered visitation with his children. Instead, his former father-in-law, James Brashear, arrived and shot him to death. Witness testimony later established that John was preparing car seats for his children when he was killed. Brashear was subsequently convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in prison. 

The tragedy did not end with the criminal prosecution. In 2025, a civil jury found both Brashear and John’s former wife, Rebecca Brashear-Mast, liable for John’s wrongful death and awarded $6.25 million in damages, including punitive damages. 

John Mast’s story is extreme in its ending, but many of the events that preceded that ending will sound painfully familiar to parents caught in high-conflict family litigation:

• serious allegations made during a custody dispute; 
• loss of meaningful contact with children; 
• allegations carrying consequences long before every factual dispute is resolved; 
• years of litigation and extraordinary legal expense; 
• damage to reputation and emotional health; 
• repeated efforts to get decision-makers to examine contradictory evidence; 
• children caught in the middle of an escalating conflict; and 
• a parent losing irreplaceable years of childhood while the legal system moves slowly. 

The lesson should not be that every allegation in family court is false. Genuine domestic violence and child abuse are real and require meaningful protection.

The lesson is that serious allegations require serious investigation.

Protecting genuine victims and protecting due process are not competing goals. A system committed to truth should be capable of doing both.

As the founder of Operation Due Justice, I cannot watch I Stand With John without recognizing parts of my own journey.

My story is not John Mast’s story, and I would never equate what I have experienced with John losing his life. But many of the earlier warning signs resonate deeply with me.

I have spent years defending myself against allegations arising from an extraordinarily contentious divorce and family-court case. I maintain the allegations made against me were false, materially misleading, exaggerated, or contradicted by evidence that deserved greater scrutiny.

Those allegations resulted in domestic-violence proceedings, arrests, incarceration, severe restrictions on my relationship with my children, devastating reputational consequences, and extraordinary financial losses.

I have been billed more than $1 million in legal fees, with more than $100,000 in additional expenses associated with disputed domestic-violence allegations, arrests, incarceration, and related proceedings.

I lost my home, financial security, and livelihood.

But none of those losses compare to losing time with my children.

I went from being an actively involved father to experiencing months of complete separation from my young son and daughter. Time that should have been filled with bedtime stories, school activities, birthdays, holidays, homework, doctor appointments, ordinary conversations, hugs, and simply being their dad disappeared while adults argued in courtrooms.

That time cannot be reimbursed.

It cannot be restored through an appeal.

It cannot be recreated years later.

Childhood keeps moving even when the court system does not.

John’s story forces difficult questions.

What happens when an accusation itself begins carrying the weight of a finding?

What happens when allegations produce restrictions, and those restrictions are later cited as evidence that the accused parent must have been dangerous?

What happens when a parent spends years attempting to disprove allegations while his or her relationship with the children deteriorates?

What happens when perjury or knowingly false reporting occurs in a custody proceeding but produces little accountability?

And perhaps most importantly:

Who gives the children their lost years back?

Robert Mast has taken his son's tragedy to lawmakers, advocating for reforms including shared parenting, “Time Taken, Time Back,” and stronger accountability when false allegations or interference separate children from parents. 

Those principles closely align with the reason Operation Due Justice exists.

John Mast’s story should not merely make us angry.

It should make us pay attention.

The purpose of reform is to identify systemic failures before another family reaches a point from which there is no recovery.

Operation Due Justice advocates for a system in which:

Real victims are protected.

Serious allegations are thoroughly investigated.

Evidence matters more than accusations.

Knowingly false allegations have consequences.

Due process applies to everyone.

Children's relationships with safe and loving parents are protected.

Courts recognize that unnecessary parent-child separation itself can cause profound harm.

And when a parent is ultimately vindicated after losing months or years with a child, the legal system should recognize that the most valuable thing taken from that family was not money.

John Mast never received the future with his children that he fought for.

We cannot change what happened to John.

But we can learn from it.

That is one of the reasons Operation Due Justice exists.

“Justice should not arrive after childhood is gone. Protect children, investigate the truth, preserve due process, and never treat time between a parent and child as something that can simply be given back later.”

Viewer discretion is advised. The documentary addresses allegations of abuse, family-court conflict, parental separation, and the fatal shooting of John Mast.