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U.S.|Man Pleads Guilty to Trying to Assassinate Justice Kavanaugh
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/us/kavanaugh-assassination-attempt-guilty.html
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Nicholas J. Roske, 29, of California, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. He was arrested near the justice’s home in 2022, with a pistol, a knife and other weapons.
April 8, 2025, 2:03 p.m. ET
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.”
