The man who allegedly stated to police that he was planning to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has officially been indicted for attempted murder, stated a Wednesday release from the Department of Justice.
Nicholas John Roske of California, aged twenty-six years old, was indicted on federal charges of attempting to murder a justice of the Supreme Court, stated the DOJ in a recent press release, highlighting that his first appearance before the court has not yet been scheduled at the time of writing.
All individuals who are charged via indictment are still presumed innocent until proven guilty, explained the document, highlighting that an indictment is not an outright declaration of guilt.
“According to the one-count indictment and other court documents, on June 8, 2022, Roske intended to kill an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court,” read the release. “Court documents alleges that Roske traveled from California to Maryland, intending to kill the Supreme Court Justice, arriving at the residence of a current Justice of the Supreme Court in the early morning hours of June 8, 2022.”
If Roske is officially convicted, he is looking down the barrel of a maximum life sentence in prison for the attempted assassination of a United States justice. The DOJ also put forth comments that stated that the actual sentences for federal crimes are, on average, less than the stated maximum penalty.
“The indictment includes a forfeiture allegation seeking the forfeiture of a firearm, two magazines loaded with 10 rounds each of 9mm ammunition; 17 rounds of ammunition contained in a plastic bag, a black speed loader, and additional items allegedly intended to be used in the commission of the crime,” read the release.
A DOJ affidavit described just how Roske allegedly made his way out to the personal residence of Kavanaugh while armed to the teeth and carrying burglary tools with the intent to murder the justice and stop him from making a ruling concerning the Second Amendment and abortion cases.
“On June 8, 2022, at approximately 1:05 a.m., two United States Deputy Marshals saw an individual dressed in black clothing and carrying a backpack and a suitcase, get out of a taxicab that had stopped in front of the Montgomery County, Maryland, residence of a current Justice of the United States Supreme Court,” stated the released affidavit.
Roske spotted the pair of U.S. Marshals standing next to their vehicles and then continued down the road, stated the affidavit.
At that point, the Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center got a call from a person who called themselves Nicholas John Roske. He stated that he had suicidal thoughts, a firearm in his suitcase, and had made his way down from California in order to kill “a specific United States Supreme Court Justice.”
Police officers were sent to the justice’s house, where they caught up with Roske still speaking with the Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center. The officers on site took Toske into custody “without incident.”
“An inventory search of the seized suitcase and backpack revealed a black tactical chest rig and tactical knife, a Glock 17 pistol with two magazines and ammunition, paper spray, zip ties, a hammer, screwdriver, nail punch, crow bar, pistol light, duct tape, hiking boots with padding on the outside of the soles, and other items,” stated the document.
Roske stated to police officials that he was quite angry about the “leak of a recent Supreme Court draft decision regarding the right to abortion as well as the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.” he also stated that “he believed the Justice that he intended to kill would side with Second Amendment decisions that would loosen gun control laws.”
“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 the Justice’s Montgomery County address on the Internet,” claimed the affidavit. “Roske further indicated that he had purchased the Glock pistol and other items for the purpose of breaking into the Justice’s residence and killing the Justice as well as himself.”