Nicholas John Roske is the armed suspect accused of threatening to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Roske’s name was released via an unsealed arrest affidavit. Online records say Nicholas Roske, 26, is from Simi Valley, California. A LinkedIn page in the name of Nicholas Roske of Simi Valley says that he worked as an office manager at a pest control company.
A criminal complaint accuses Roske of “attempts to kidnap or murder, or threatens to assault, kidnap or murder a United States Judge, to wit: a current Justice of the United States Supreme Court.” It outlines a number of items he brought with him to Kavanaugh’s neighborhood, including duct tape, zip ties, and a pistol.
Read the complaint in full here: Nicholas Roske Affidavit.
The arrest comes on the heels of a Wisconsin judge being murdered in his own home by a man he sentenced years before, and escalating threats against members of the U.S. Supreme Court. Threats against the Court have been a rising concern since the leak of a draft memo that indicated the court, including Kavanaugh, may overturn Roe v. Wade.
Kavanaugh is a conservative justice nominated by former President Donald Trump. He was confirmed after a bruising nomination battle that included 35-year-old allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman while he was in high school. He denied those allegations.
Through a spokesman, President Joe Biden condemned the suspect’s actions “in the strongest terms,” and is advocating for greater protection for courts and judges, according to Fox News.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Roske, Who Was Armed, is Accused of Saying He Was ‘Thinking of Giving His Life a Purpose’ by Breaking Into Kavanaugh’s Home & Killing Him
The arrest affidavit says that, at 1:05 a.m., June 8, 2022, two United States Deputy Marshals saw “an individual dressed in black clothing and carrying a backpack and a suitcase.
Roske is accused of saying that he was “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.”
The affidavit alleges that Roske took a taxicab that stopped in front of Kavanaugh’s residence. He looked at two deputy U.S. Marshals who were standing next to their parked vehicle and then turned to walk down the street.
Shortly thereafter, a man who said he was Nicholas John Roske called the Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center and said he was “having suicidal thoughts and had a firearm in his suitcase.”
He told the call taker he came from California to “kill a specific United States Supreme Court justice.
Authorities responded and arrested Roske.
Roske “further indicated that the 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,” the affidavit says.
Patricia McCabe, the Court’s public information officer, told Heavy in an emailed statement, referring to Wednesday, June 8, 2022:
At approximately 1:50 a.m. today, a man was arrested near Justice Kavanaugh’s residence. The man was armed and made threats against Justice Kavanaugh. He was transported to Montgomery County Police 2nd District.
Police received a tip that the man might pose a threat, The Washington Post reported.
Montgomery County police told The Post that they responded to a call for service near Kavanaugh’s home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and arrest the man.
They believe he “came in from out of state with the intent to kill Kavanaugh,” Shiera Goff, spokesman for the department, told The Post. He was in the area between 1:14 and 1:45 a.m. on June 8, according to Goff.
The suspect was carrying a gun and knife, according to Fox News, citing sources.
2. Nicholas Roske, Who Is From California, Was Upset About the Leak of the Roe v. Wade Draft Opinion & Believed That Kavanaugh Would Side With Decisions That ‘Would Loosen Gun Control Laws,’ Authorities Say
Roske told authorities he was “upset 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,” the affidavit says. “Roske indicated that he believed the Justice that he intended to kill would side with Second Amendment decisions that would loosen gun control laws.”
Montgomery County Police told Heavy in an emailed statement:
At 1:42 a.m. Montgomery County Police Department responded to a call for service in the area of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home in Chevy Chase, MD. An adult male from California was taken into custody by Montgomery County Police and transported to a Montgomery County police station. The case was transferred to the FBI. We are not able to release any identifiers on the suspect or whether he had a gun, that information will be provided by the FBI.
According to the Post, the man told officers he wanted to kill Kavanaugh and was stopped on a street near the justice’s home with “at least one weapon and burglary tools.”
The man was angry about the leaked draft indicating the court might overturn Roe v. Wade as well as the recent mass shootings in the United States.
The recent mass shooters have included the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and a mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store.
3. Authorities Began ‘Heightened Security’ at the Justices’ Homes in May 2022
Maryland’s Governor Larry Hogan wrote in a statement posted to his Twitter page:
Early this morning, I was briefed on an incident that occurred near the residence of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and his family. I want to thank the US Marshals Service and Montgomery County Police for acting quickly to apprehend the suspect and prevent him from causing any harm. Maryland State Police and the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center are providing assistance with the investigation.
The heightened security at the homes of the justices began after a request Governor Youngkin and I made to Attorney General Garland last month. We will continue to partner with both federal and local law enforcement officials to help ensure these residential areas are secure.
I call on leaders in both parties in Washington to strongly condemn these actions in no uncertain terms. It is vital to our constitutional system that the justices be able to carry out their duties without fear of violence against them and their families.
In May, Axios obtained an internal Department of Homeland Security memo that discussed rising threats against SCOTUS in the wake of the Roe v. Wade leak.
The threats, that also targeted other politicians and others “are likely to persist and may increase leading up to and following the issuing of the Court’s official ruling,” Axios reported, quoting the memo.
The memo reported that threats were coming from people both opposed to and supportive of abortion.
“Some racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists’ embrace of pro-life narratives may be linked to the perception of wanting to ‘save white children’ and ‘fight white genocide,'” the memo said, according to Axios.
“…the memo warns that this time, extremist acts could come from abortion-rights proponents as well,” Axios reported.
NBC News also obtained the internal memo and reported that the National Capital Region Threat Intelligence Consortium “has identified at least 25 violent threats on social media that were referred to law enforcement agencies for further investigation” since May 2, 2022.
“Some of these threats discussed burning down or storming the U.S. Supreme Court and murdering Justices and their clerks, members of Congress, and lawful demonstrators,” the memo said, according to NBC, which reported that “the authors also noted several social media accounts that encouraged violence at abortion-rights rallies…”
In Madison, Wisconsin, in early May 2022, a group that support overturning Roe vs. Wade was firebombed. “If abortions aren’t safe, then you aren’t either,” a message was scrawled on the wall by a group calling itself Jane’s Revenge. In early June, a Christian pregnancy center that opposes abortion was the target of arsonists who wrote “Jane was here,” Fox News reported.
4. Roske, Who Has a Previous Address in Seattle, Was Carrying a Backpack & Suitcase With Zip Ties, a Crow Bar, a Pistol & Other Items, Authorities Say
The affidavit says that authorities searched Roske’s suitcase and backpack and found the following items: A black tactical chest rig and tactical knife, a Glock 17 pistol with two magazines and ammunition, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, a screwdriver, nail punch, crow bar, duct tape, hiking boots with padding on the outside of the soles, and other items.
According to The Washington Post, citing sources, Roske is in his mid-20s and is from California. Journalist Karol Markowicz tweeted, “I can confirm the man taken into custody outside of Brett Kavanaugh’s house last night is a 26 year old white male with a California driver’s license. Previous address in Seattle.”
5. Protests Have Occurred Outside Kavanaugh’s Home Protests have ignited outside the home of Kavanaugh and other justices in the wake of the draft opinion’s leak.
“~100 protesters showed up at Kavanaugh’s and Roberts’ homes in the rain tonight and held their ground. #bansoffourbodies,” wrote the Twitter page ShutDownDC after one such protest
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