January 1, Man Charged For Attempted Murder of Justice Kavanaugh

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged a California man with the attempted murder of a Supreme Court Justice.

The criminal complaint against Nicholas John Roske, 26, from Simi Valley, California, alleges that he told Montgomery County investigators he traveled to Maryland to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The DOJ says that two United States Deputy Marshals saw a man dressed in black clothing and carrying a backpack and a suitcase get out of a taxicab that had stopped in front of Kavanaugh’s home at approximately 1:05 a.m. on Wednesday. The man spotted the two marshals and then walked down the street.

Shortly after, the Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center received a call from Roske, who allegedly told the dispatcher that he was experiencing suicidal thoughts, had a firearm in his suitcase, and had traveled from California to kill Kavanaugh.

Montgomery County Police Department officers arrested Roske before he had disconnected the call. Officers found a litany of items in his suitcase and backpack, including a black tactical vest and tactical knife, a pistol with two magazines and ammunition, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, screwdriver, nail punch, crowbar, pistol light, duct tape, and hiking boots with padding on the outside of the soles.

Roske allegedly told detectives he was upset about the leak of a recent Supreme Court draft decision regarding the right to abortion as well as the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

The 26-year-old allegedly indicated that he believed Kavanaugh “would side with Second Amendment decisions that would loosen gun control laws,” the complaint reads.

“Roske stated that he began thinking about how to give his life a purpose and decided that he would kill the Supreme Court Justice” after finding his address on the internet, according to the complaint.

Though the complaint does not name the specific Supreme Court justice, a SCOTUS spokesperson confirmed that it was Kavanaugh.

“At approximately 1:50 a.m. today, a man was arrested near Justice Kavanaugh’s residence,” Supreme Court spokesperson Patricia McCabe said Wednesday.

“The man was armed and made threats against Justice Kavanaugh. He was transported to Montgomery County Police 2nd District.”