The criminal complaint against the man who allegedly wanted to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was released on Wednesday, only hours after he was arrested
The “offense description” from the United States District Court for the State of Maryland stated, “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.”
The complaint named the alleged assailant as Nicholas John Roske and stated he had called the Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center, telling them he was having suicidal thoughts and had a firearm in his suitcase.
Roske admitted he had traveled from California to “kill a specific United States Supreme Court Justice,” the complaint said. Montgomery County police officers found Roske near Kavanaugh’s residence, where they took him into custody.
According to FBI special agent Ian Montijo, Roske intended to kill Kavanaugh and then commit suicide.
According to the court filing, Roske neared Kavanaugh’s home only to see two U.S. deputy marshals standing guard, prompting him to leave and call the Emergency Communications Center
“Roske then told the detective 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,” the FBI said, as The Washington Examiner reported. “Roske indicated that 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 FBI agent continued. “Roske further indicated that he had purchased the Glock pistol and the other items for the purpose of breaking into the Justice’s residence and killing the Justice as well as himself.”
In March 2020, speaking to a crowd of abortion supporters, New York Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, referring to two Supreme Court appointees of President Trump’s, Neal Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, ranted, “You have unleashed the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”
Chief Justice John Roberts fired back at the time, “Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All members of the court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.”