(LifeSiteNews) — A California man who was arrested outside conservative Catholic Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s suburban home in June 2022 has admitted in court that he planned to assassinate Kavanaugh.
Nicholas Roske, 29, of Simi Valley, California, pleaded guilty in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Tuesday to the charge of attempted murder. Sentencing guidelines call for a minimum of 30 years to life in prison.
A June 9 trial date has been set.
Roske was infuriated after a draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization by the U.S. Supreme Court revealing the justices’ intention to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked to Politico in early May 2022, quickly grabbing headlines across the country.
A few weeks later, Roske told another individual via encrypted online messaging that “The thought of Roe v Wade and gay marriage both being repealed has me furious.”
The unhinged young man also explained that, as a result of reading the leaked Dobbs decision draft, he intended to kill one or more of the associate justices.
After Roske filed his guilty plea on Tuesday, Carrie Severino noted on X, “The leaker of the draft Dobbs opinion put the lives of the justices and their families in grave danger.”
Despite an investigation, the leaker has never been identified.
According to a court filing, in the weeks before flying to Washington, D.C., Roske searched the internet for the home addresses of Supreme Court justices and for “information on firearms, techniques for breaking and entering a residence, ways to avoid detection, stabbing a person, especially in the neck, strangulation, killing a person in a quiet manner, and how to travel by air with weapons. Roske also purchased multiple items and tools to use in his planned attack.”
A statement from the U.S. Department of Justice explains:
As part of his guilty plea, Roske admitted that on June 7, 2022, he flew from Los Angeles International Airport to Dulles International Airport with a firearm and ammunition in his checked baggage. He then took a taxi from the airport to Montgomery County, Maryland, with the intent to kill the Supreme Court Justice
According to the criminal complaint and the Government’s factual allegations, on June 8, 2022, at approximately 1:05 a.m., two Deputy U.S. Marshals, protecting the residence of a Supreme Court Justice, observed Roske arrive in and get out of a taxi in front of the residence. Roske wore black clothing and had a backpack and suitcase. Upon observing Roske, the two Deputy U.S. Marshals started to get out of their vehicles as the defendant proceeded to walk down the street.
Shortly after, Roske told a Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center call taker that he was having homicidal and suicidal thoughts, had a gun in his suitcase, and flew from California to kill a specific Supreme Court Justice.
Montgomery County Police Department officers responded to the location and took Roske into custody. A search of Roske’s suitcase and backpack revealed a firearm; black tactical chest rig and tactical knife; two magazines, each containing 10 rounds of ammunition; 17 additional rounds of ammunition; pepper spray; zip ties; a hammer; screwdrivers; a nail punch; a crowbar; a pistol light; duct tape; hiking boots with padding on the outside of the soles; and lock-pick tools, along with other items.
“This calculated attempt on the life of a sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice was a heinous attack on the Court itself,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Anyone who thinks they can use violence or intimidation to influence our courts will be met with the full force of the law and face up to life in prison.”
“Nicholas Roske sought to commit a despicable, premeditated attack on a Supreme Court Justice and today is another step toward accountability,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “No violent attacks can be tolerated, whether those targeted are public officials or private citizens – and the FBI and our partners will aggressively investigate and bring to justice all those who engage in such plots.”
The left: A history of attacking conservative Christian justices at their homes
Roske was just one of many leftists who threatened the lives of conservative Christian Supreme Court justices during the days following the leak of the court’s majority opinion in the Dobbs case. Protesters descended into the neighborhoods of conservative justices, a practice meant to strike fear into the hearts of the justices’ family and friends.
In the days leading up to the attempt against his life, protesters created a daily major nuisances outside Kavanaugh’s Chevy Chase, Maryland, home.
“It’s a horrific experience,” said one neighbor describing the protests. “They have drums, they have a megaphone, and they chant, they yell all kinds of things … They have told neighbors ‘f— you, f— your children,’ things like that – and so they’re abusive towards neighbors and intimidating.”
On another occasion, Justice Kavanaugh was once forced to escape out the back door of a restaurant due to harassment from pro-abortion protesters.
The ire of leftists wasn’t reserved for the justices alone. After the draft opinion leak, they threatened to disrupt Masses in Catholic churches around the country, most notably the Archdiocese of Washington’s St. Peter’s and St. Joseph’s parishes, located immediately to the north and south of the U.S. Supreme Court building.
