The FBI warned Friday that while it will protect the first amendment rights of Americans protesting at the Supreme Court, it will not “tolerate violence, destruction, interference with government functions, or trespassing on government property.”
The warning comes after authorities arrested 26-year-old Nicholas John Roske of Simi Valley, California, near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh‘s home on Wednesday. Roske allegedly said he wanted to kill the justice.
A DOJ affidavit details how Roske allegedly traveled to Kavanaugh’s home armed with weapons and burglary tools with the intent to kill the justice and prevent him from ruling on Second Amendment and abortion cases.
In a joint statement issued Friday by U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves and Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Steven D’Antuono, authorities said that they “are committed to protecting the First Amendment rights of all Americans to express their views peacefully during demonstrations that take place on a regular basis in the nation’s capital, including at the Supreme Court.”
Joint Statement from U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. D'Antuono of the FBI Washington Field Office https://t.co/XVQ7dPo4HC @FBIWFO
— U.S. Attorney DC (@USAO_DC) June 10, 2022
“We also have a responsibility to ensure public safety and the orderly conduct of government business,” the statement said. “We will not tolerate violence, destruction, interference with government functions, or trespassing on government property.”
The joint statement also said that it is “committed to working closely with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to stop any individuals who intend to commit violence or criminal activity under the guise of carrying out a demonstration.”
Roske found Kavanaugh’s address online, the affidavit said. Pro-abortion advocates with a group called Ruth Sent Us had posted the address online, sparking heavy criticism from those who feared for the justices’ safety. Ruth Sent Us did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Wire, but put out a statement saying they do not “support violence.”
Roske told authorities that 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,” indicating 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,” the affidavit said. “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.”
It is not immediately clear whether the Kavanaugh family was at home when this incident occurred. The FBI would not comment further to The Daily Wire on the family’s whereabouts.
On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) denied House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy‘s (R-CA) second unanimous consent request to immediately pass a Supreme Court security bill to enhance protections for the justices, announcing that the House will vote on the bill next week.
“We had hoped that we could do it today but we certainly will do it at the beginning of next week,” Pelosi told reporters on Thursday.
The speaker of the house also told reporters that the justices are protected, firing back at a reporter who pointed out that there was an attempted assassination, “The justices are protected. This issue is not about the justices, it’s about staff and the rest. The justices are protected; you saw the attorney general even double down on that.”
“But this is about security for the justices; an armed man showed up near Justice Kavanaugh’s house,” the reporter persisted, to which Pelosi responded: “We are working together on the bill that the Senate will be able to approve of … we can pass whatever we want to, we want it to be able to pass the Senate. So I don’t know what you’re talking about because evidently you haven’t seen what the … language is.”
“There will be a bill,” she added. “Nobody is in danger over the weekend because of our not having a bill.”