WASHINGTON (AP) — A California man will plead guilty to trying to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his home in a suburb of Washington, D.C, nearly three years ago, the defendant’s attorneys said in a court filing on Wednesday.
Nicholas John Roske, of Simi Valley, California, was arrested near Kavanaugh’s home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, in June 2022. Roske was armed with a gun and a knife, was carrying zip ties and was dressed in black when he arrived in the neighborhood by taxi just after 1 a.m., federal authorities said.
Roske, who was 26 when he was arrested, intends to plead guilty to attempting to murder a justice of the United States without reaching a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, according to his lawyers. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Roske’s attorneys asked a judge in Greenbelt, Maryland, to schedule a hearing next Monday or Tuesday for him to enter a guilty plea. They say prosecutors have consented to their request.
After his arrest, Roske told a police detective that he was upset by a leaked draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court intended to overrule Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion case, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit. Killing one jurist could change the decisions of the nine-member court “for decades to come,” authorities said that Roske wrote, adding, “I am shooting for three.”
The leaked opinion draft led to protests, including at several of the justices’ homes. Roske’s arrest spurred the House to approve a bill expanding around-the-clock security protection to the justices’ families.
Roske also said he was upset over the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, and believed that Kavanaugh would vote to loosen gun control laws, the affidavit said.
Roske was apprehended after he called 911 and told a police dispatcher that he was near Kavanaugh’s home and wanted to take his own life. He was spotted by two U.S. marshals who were part of 24-hour security provided to the justices.
A trial for Roske has been scheduled to start on June 9.
During a hearing in October 2022, U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte said there was a “very high likelihood” that he would order a mental evaluation for Roske to determine if he was fit to assist his defense, enter a possible guilty plea or stand trial.
One of Roske’s attorneys, Andrew Szekely, said during a hearing last August that the defense is not requesting a court-ordered mental evaluation of Roske.
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman inherited Roske’s case after Messitte died in January following a brief illness.
Michael Kunzelman, The Associated Press
