A California man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a charge that he tried to assassinate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh in June 2022, when he was arrested near the justice’s home in Maryland with a pistol, a knife and other weapons.
The man, Nicholas J. Roske, had told the police he was upset about the deadly 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and believed that Justice Kavanaugh would loosen gun control laws, prosecutors said. He also told the police that he was upset about a leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion that revealed that the justices were poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that guaranteed the right to an abortion.
Mr. Roske was arrested on June 8, 2022, after he traveled from California to Justice Kavanaugh’s home in Montgomery County, Md., with a Glock pistol, two magazines of ammunition, a knife, pepper spray, zip ties and other gear, prosecutors said. Mr. Roske called 911 after he arrived at the house in a taxi about 1 a.m. and saw two deputy U.S. marshals who were guarding the residence get out of their vehicles.
Mr. Roske told the police that he was having suicidal and homicidal thoughts, that he had a gun in his suitcase and that he had come from California to kill Justice Kavanaugh, prosecutors said in court documents.
On Tuesday, Mr. Roske, 29, of Simi Valley, Calif., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md., to a charge of attempting to assassinate a Supreme Court justice. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison at his sentencing on Oct. 3, his lawyer said.
“Nicholas Roske appeared in court today and accepted full responsibility for his conduct by pleading guilty,” the lawyer, Andrew Szekely, said in a statement. “Mr. Roske’s accountability began on June 8, 2022, when, in the throes of a mental health crisis, he called 911, told police where he was and what he was doing and asked for help. After his call, Mr. Roske cooperated with the authorities to ensure he was safely taken into custody.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland, which prosecuted Mr. Roske, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
In court documents, prosecutors said that, in the spring of 2022, Mr. Roske developed a plan to assassinate “one or more” Supreme Court justices. He searched for their home addresses on the internet and looked up ways to break and enter into homes and ways to kill people, prosecutors said.
“The thought of Roe v Wade and gay marriage both being repealed has me furious,” he told an unnamed user on an encrypted messaging app on May 25, 2022, prosecutors said. Two days later, prosecutors said, he told the same user that, “i could get at least one, which would change the votes for decades to come. and I am shooting for 3.”
Over the next several days, Mr. Roske bought a tool that can be used to pick locks, tactical gloves, a glass cutter, pepper spray and a Glock pistol, with which he practiced shooting at a firing range, prosecutors said.
On June 7, 2022, Mr. Roske filled out the necessary paperwork to fly from Los Angeles to Washington Dulles International Airport with an unloaded gun in a checked bag, prosecutors said. While taking a taxi to Justice Kavanaugh’s home, he texted his sister, telling her that he loved her, prosecutors said.
When he got out of the taxi, he noticed two marshals outside Justice Kavanaugh’s home and realized they were “keeping a lookout,” prosecutors said. He walked away from the home, and his sister called him, prosecutors said. Mr. Roske then called the police and was arrested.
His guilty plea came as federal judges have faced a wave of threats and intimidation as President Trump and his allies have called for the removal of judges who have issued rulings stopping or slowing elements of his agenda.
Last month, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. issued a rare statement rebuking calls for impeaching judges.
The attempts at intimidation have included bomb threats, anonymous calls to dispatch SWAT teams to home addresses and the delivery of pizzas, a seemingly innocuous prank that security experts have said is intended to send a menacing message that an antagonist knows where a judge lives.
Last month, the federal judiciary set up a task force to help judges identify and respond to “current risks, and to anticipate new ones,” according to an internal memo that was distributed to federal judges and obtained by The New York Times.
“Through its efforts, it is hoped that the security of individual judges will be enhanced and that judicial independence will be assured,” the memo said.
Michael Levenson covers breaking news for The Times from New York.
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