Washington, D.C., police on Sunday arrested a man with hundreds of explosive devices outside a church holding a Mass in honor of the Supreme Court. The man had a manifesto that suggested he was targeting the Supreme Court and Catholics, according to court papers obtained by The Daily Wire.
Louis Geri, a 41-year-old from Arizona and New Jersey, was apprehended outside the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle on October 5, the same day the church held its annual &#8220;Red Mass&#8221; in which a cardinal prays for the high court as it embarks on a new term, and which is historically attended by justices.
Geri was occupying a green tent on the steps of the church when police attempted to clear the area in preparation for the Supreme Court event. He told police, &#8220;You might want to stay back and call the federales, I have explosives,&#8221; according to an affidavit.
A member of the Metropolitan Police Department&#8217;s Bomb Squad then told him he needed to move because of a special event. He replied, &#8220;I&#8217;m aware of that (referring to the Red Mass),&#8221; police wrote, and threatened to throw a bomb into the street as a demonstration, adding, &#8220;I have a hundred plus of them.&#8221;
Police said they would remove him against his will, and he replied, &#8220;Several of your people are gonna die from one of these.&#8221; With a lighter in one hand, he handed them nine pieces of paper that amounted to a manifesto entitled, &#8220;Written Negotiations for the Avoidance of Destruction of Property via Detonation of Explosives.&#8221;
The manifesto &#8220;revealed his significant animosity towards the Catholic church, members of the Jewish faith, members of SCOTUS and ICE/ ICE facilities,&#8221; police wrote, indicating that the incident may be the latest in a string of left-wing domestic terrorism.
Geri &#8220;then shifted his right thumb over top of the butane lighter to initiate the lighting action and stated, &#8216;You better have these people step away or there&#8217;s going to be deaths.'&#8221;
<div id="attachment_982575" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-982575" class="size-full wp-image-982575" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2176394202-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1726" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2176394202-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2176394202-300x202.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2176394202-854x576.jpg 854w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2176394202-768x518.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2176394202-1536x1036.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2176394202-2048x1381.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />Priests and worshipers leave after celebrating the 72nd Annual Red Mass in 2024. (Astrid Riecken For The Washington Post via Getty Images)</div>
Geri then left the tent to urinate on a tree and was apprehended by three officers, at which point he said he had a device in his pocket. A bomb squad technician located in his pocket &#8220;a vial with a white cap, which contained yellow liquid inside, with an M-device taped to the exterior.&#8221;
After he was arrested, the bomb squad located &#8220;a large cache of handmade destructive devices&#8221; in the tent, police said. He was charged with: Unlawful Entry, Manufacture, Transfer, Use, Possession or Transportation of Molotov Cocktails, or other Explosives for Unlawful purposes, Threats to Kidnap or Injure a person, Assault on Police Officer x 2, Possession of Destructive Device, Manufacture or Possession of Weapon of Mass Destruction (Hate Crime) and Resisting Arrest.
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On Monday, after reviewing the bombs more carefully, police filed an affidavit from a bomb technician saying &#8220;there were over 200 devices recovered from D-1&#8217;s tent. There was a strong smell of acetone emitting from some of the vials. Some of the liquid was determined to be Nitro Methane. The liquid appeared to be multiple chemicals mixed together, none in original containers &#8230; the devices appeared to be fully functional.&#8221;
Police said that in a jailhouse interview, Geri &#8220;described his devices as grenades and explosives containing Nitro Methane with a rubber band securing a fuse to be used for detonation. [He] also stated he planned to use the modified bottle rockets with the aluminum foil heads attached and treated in a Thermite solution to allow for his detonation of the devices from a distance.&#8221;
He is being held in jail without bond.
No justices attended the mass this year because of security concerns, according to the <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/supreme-court-justices-do-not-attend-annual-red-mass-due-security-concerns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Catholic Reporter</a> – concerns which appear to have been justified. Last year, three justices, all conservative, attended: John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. In 2018, leftists were photographed protesting the mass with signs that said &#8220;Stop Kavanaugh,&#8221; and referring to the false smear peddled by Democrat senators that Kavanaugh was a gang-rapist.
<div id="attachment_982569" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-982569" class="size-full wp-image-982569" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1044957376-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1707" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1044957376-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1044957376-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1044957376-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1044957376-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1044957376-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1044957376-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1044957376-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1044957376-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />Protesters yell &#8220;I believe Christine Ford&#8221; in front of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle at the 66th annual Red Mass on September 30, 2018. (Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images)</div>
The potential assassination of a large number of justices came just two days after a Joe Biden-appointed judge issued a lenient sentence to Nicholas Roske, who attempted to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022. In that case, Judge Deborah Boardman departed from sentencing guidelines by 22 years, sentencing Roske to just <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/transgender-man-who-planned-to-assassinate-brett-kavanaugh-gets-off-easy-will-serve-just-8-years">eight years</a> instead of the 30 years-to-life called for by sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors had warned that a stiffer sentence was needed to deter others from attempting to assassinate justices, and this new incident could add to calls from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to impeach Judge Boardman.
According to public records reviewed by The Daily Wire, Geri was from Vineland, New Jersey, but had been living in a motel in Mesa, Arizona, for the last several years. In 2021, an Arizona jury found him guilty of indecent exposure. He was admitted to state prison in August 2022 and released in May 2023, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections.
<iframe loading="lazy" style="border: 1px solid #d8dee2; border-radius: 0.5rem; width: 100%; height: 100%; aspect-ratio: 612 / 792;" src="https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/26182171-geri-affidavit/?embed=1" width="612" height="792">﻿</iframe>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/transgender-man-who-planned-to-assassinate-brett-kavanaugh-gets-off-easy-will-serve-just-8-years?author=Luke+Rosiak&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Transgender+Man+Who+Planned+To+Assassinate+Brett+Kavanaugh+Will+Serve+Just+8+Years">Transgender Man Who Planned To Assassinate Brett Kavanaugh Will Serve Just 8 Years</a>

Louis Geri

Man With 200 Explosives And Leftist Manifesto Arrested Outside Supreme Court Event At Church: Police

Brett Kavanaugh

Catholicism

Crime

Law Enforcement

Supreme Court

Terrorism

U.S.

Today, the Supreme Court will hear <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/chiles-v-salazar/">Chiles v. Salazar</a>, a case about censorship in private counseling conversations regarding gender identity not sanctioned by Colorado state law. The results will have a lasting influence not only counselors, parents, and children in Colorado, but throughout the United States.
I know, because our family learned the hard way when our 11-year-old daughter went to her school counselors in Wisconsin for advice. 
So many times, just being able to talk about things with someone who knows how to listen can make a life-changing difference. What our family learned, however, was that these people did not know how to listen. They were interested in making a life-changing difference, yes, but mostly in changing my daughter’s life to suit their social sensibilities, not to do what was best for her.
COVID hit at just about the same time my daughter entered into a very real personal crisis. She was 11 years old and decided she hated herself. She hated her looks, hated her personality — everything. The isolation of the epidemic left her with too much time to think about all of that and too few people to talk to about what she was feeling.
Sometimes, as a kid, it can help to know that other kids around the same age are struggling with the same issues. But our daughter was mostly alone with all her growing worries, fears, and frustrations. She didn’t know how to talk to me about what she was feeling, and she started reading about kids who were &#8220;changing&#8221; themselves. That sounded like the answer to everything: changing herself.
Looking back, she says, she doesn’t think she was really feeling that much gender dysphoria. She wasn’t especially wanting to be a boy — she just didn’t want to be herself.
That turned out to be very easy to arrange. In fact, a teacher’s aide approached my daughter and said that, if she wanted to give the people in the front office a new name and new pronouns, they’d happily take care of the paperwork.
They might have suggested that she first talk a little more with her parents about what she was feeling and give us a chance to listen and help her work through these things. But no one — not the school officials, not the doctors she eventually talked to — ever suggested anything like that.
To them, what we as her parents thought and felt was irrelevant. Our love for our child and our authority to influence her life choices didn’t matter at all. All of these strangers just assumed they knew best and had the right to keep her parents out of the conversation.
For that matter, they didn’t include our daughter much, either.
At no time did anyone at school or in the medical facilities our daughter visited ever suggest that there might be a healthy alternative to her social transitioning. They never suggested that she might just be struggling with the kinds of things lots of boys and girls have trouble with — dealing with the pains and awkward changes of puberty and the problems of fitting into a sometimes-crazy teenage culture.
That’s why my husband and I <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/tf-and-bf-v-kettle-moraine-school-district/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">sued</a> our Wisconsin school district with the help of our attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom. As parents, we have had to really fight for what should be a given — our basic legal right to be involved in our child’s life. And — with our love and support — she had to find her own way out of the confusing jungle of emotions she was dealing with.
We’re glad she was able to do that, but we still wonder how much easier it might have been if someone with the right skills had just been there to help her find the trail — and if her school officials hadn’t tried so hard to block her from finding it.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="How Tammy&#039;s Bold Stand Saved Her Daughter from &quot;Social Transitioning&quot;" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z5le_6Qwe8o?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
That’s also why we’re so interested in another ADF client, Kaley Chiles, and <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/chiles-v-salazar/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">her case</a> being argued before the U.S. Supreme Court today. Ms. Chiles is a counselor who wants to offer help to young people like our daughter, who are going through the kinds of things she’s been going through.
We’ve read a lot about her. She does what it seems like a counselor ought to do. She listens. She asks thoughtful questions. She helps young people figure out where they want to go and how to get there. She’s there to walk with them — not push them through a pre-chosen door or force her own ideas on their disturbed minds and hurting hearts.
To me, that’s what every young person going through what my daughter went through needs. But in Ms. Chiles’ home state of Colorado, it’s actually against the law for a counselor to help a minor that way.
My own state has a similar law. And these laws allow counselors to point the way to transitioning and encourage it, but they can’t offer an alternative or do anything to support a young person who leans toward another conclusion.
That reminds me so much of what my daughter has experienced these last few years. People — professionals — with no interest in helping her, just in changing her.
Ms. Chiles’ attorneys will be making good arguments for why that’s a terrible approach … one that can be life-changing for children and teens in all the wrong ways.
I just hope the justices know how to listen.
* * *
Tammy Fournier and her daughter reside in Wisconsin.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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SCOTUS I

When My 11-Year-Old Daughter Began Hating Herself, The School Told Her To Change Her Pronouns

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

Children

Gender Identity

LGBTQ

Opinion

Parents rights

Pronouns

Schools

The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments in a case centered on a counselor in Colorado who could be punished under state law for helping gender-confused children become comfortable with their own body instead of pursuing irreversible transgender medical procedures.
The case pits the State of Colorado against counselor Kaley Chiles, who is challenging a Colorado law that <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2019a_1129_signed.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibits</a> counseling that “attempts or purports to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” Chiles said that the law violates her First Amendment rights and has prevented her from taking several clients.
“When my young clients come to me for counsel, they often want to discuss issues of gender and sexuality. Yet my home state only allows my clients to pursue state-approved goals like gender transition,” she said. “Colorado’s law harms kids and censors speech. I’m hopeful the Supreme Court will do the right thing — for me, other counselors, and most importantly, kids everywhere.”
Chiles is being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which argues that Colorado’s law, passed in 2019, is a direct attack on professional speech.
“This case is about censorship. The state of Colorado is censoring counselor speech on the issue of gender ideology,” Alliance Defending Freedom lawyer Kate Anderson said on a press call attended by The Daily Wire. “Colorado is saying that if a counselor is going to speak with a minor, have a private, voluntary counseling session with a minor, and that minor is dealing with any kind of gender ideology, confusion, then that counselor has to encourage transition.”
“They can&#8217;t have conversations with that minor to help them become comfortable in their own body and align their feelings with their biology, even if that&#8217;s what that minor wants,” Anderson added.
She pointed to the 2018 Supreme Court ruling where the court sided with the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, which had challenged a California law that mandated that crisis pregnancy centers provide information on how to obtain abortions.
Anderson said she expected this past ruling to come up during oral arguments, as well as the science demonstrating the lack of scientific support for transgender procedures.
Colorado’s law was previously upheld by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, while the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down similar laws implemented by cities in Florida. The Supreme Court has been skeptical of transgender ideology in recent years and has allowed states to ban transgender procedures on minors.

MixCollage-06-Oct-2025-02-23-PM-3955

Supreme Court Takes Up Challenge To Colorado Law That Pushes Kids Into Transgender Procedures

Colorado

Free Speech

gender ideology

Transgender

The Supreme Court on Monday <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/100625zor_5368.pdf">rejected</a> Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal of her criminal conviction for her part in Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ghislaine-maxwell-sentenced-20-years-prison-conspiring-jeffrey-epstein-sexually-abuse">sentence</a> after being convicted on three counts, including sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking of a minor. Despite the setback at the Supreme Court, Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, said that “this fight isn’t over,” NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-rejects-epstein-associate-ghislaine-maxwells-appeal-crim-rcna233281">reported</a>.
In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Markus contended that Jeffrey Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement with the Southern District of Florida — which shielded him and his potential co-conspirators from federal charges — should also apply to one of Ghislaine Maxwell’s three counts prosecuted in New York. The Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to reject the appeal. The Justice Department noted that Alex Acosta, then the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, would have needed authorization from his superiors for Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement to apply beyond that district. However, there is no evidence that such permission was obtained.
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Solicitor General D. John Sauer said that Maxwell’s argument was “incorrect,” adding that she failed to “show that it would succeed in any court of appeals,” The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/us/politics/supreme-court-ghislaine-maxwell-epstein-appeal.html#:~:text=In%20a%20response%20to%20Ms,in%20any%20court%20of%20appeals.%E2%80%9D">reported</a>.
Maxwell has been seeking any way to have her prison sentence shortened, including an appeal to President Donald Trump, since her sentencing in June 2022.
Just days after Maxwell petitioned the Supreme Court, she agreed to be <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ghislaine-maxwell-reveals-whether-she-believes-epstein-committed-suicide">interviewed</a> by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who asked the convicted sex trafficker numerous questions about Epstein and his associates. The interview was conducted in July, as the Trump administration continued to face backlash over its handling of the Epstein case. Blanche is a former personal attorney of President Trump.
During her interview with Blanche, Maxwell stated that she had never seen any high-profile Epstein associates, including President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton, engage in anything “inappropriate.”
“I actually never saw the president in any type of massage setting. I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way,” she said of Trump. “The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.”
Along with the appeal to the Supreme Court, Maxwell’s lawyer also <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/28/trump-ghislaine-maxwell-pardon-jeffrey-epstein-00479862">said</a> that they were asking “the President himself to recognize how profoundly unjust it is to scapegoat Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s crimes.” Trump told reporters in late July that “nobody&#8217;s approached me” about a pardon for Maxwell.
“Well, I’m allowed to give her a pardon but nobody&#8217;s approached me with it, nobody&#8217;s asked me about it,” said Trump, adding, “I&#8217;m allowed to do it, but it&#8217;s something I have not thought about.”
One week after sitting down for the interview with the DOJ, Maxwell was moved from a federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison in Texas.

Supreme Court/Ghislaine Maxwell

SCOTUS Slams Door On Ghislaine Maxwell Appeal

Courts

Donald Trump

Ghislaine Maxwell

Jeffrey Epstein

Politics

Trump Administration

GREENBELT, Md.—The man who planned to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022 in an attempt to change the court’s balance of power was sentenced by a Joe Biden-appointed judge on Friday to 97 months in prison, granting the defendant&#8217;s request for an eight-year sentence.
Judge Deborah Boardman, a Joe Biden appointee to Maryland federal court, acknowledged there was &#8220;a whopping 22-year difference&#8221; between that and the minimum of 30 years called for by federal sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors had asked for sentencing guidelines to be followed.
The Department of Justice plans to appeal the sentence, The Daily Wire has learned.
Nicholas Roske traveled from California to Kavanaugh’s Maryland home armed with cache of weapons after a leaked document showed that the court planned to rule against liberals on abortion. Although he had meticulously planned the assassination for months, he had a change of heart outside the conservative justice’s home and called the police to turn himself in.
He has been detained in the three years since, so with time served and good behavior, Roske&#8217;s sentence would mean he could be out four years after being sentenced on the charge of Attempt to Assassinate a U.S. Justice. The sentence also included lifetime court supervision.
Boardman said &#8220;Under the law I must consider the sentencing guidelines. The guidelines in this case are 360 months to life. It&#8217;s important to understand the Supreme Court stance on guidelines&#8230; They used to be mandatory, but in [a case called] Booker the Supreme Court held that they were advisory.&#8221;
The judge acknowledged that &#8220;this crime did involve domestic terrorism,&#8221; but undid most of the &#8220;terrorism enhancement&#8221; created by the U.S. Sentencing Commission to increase recommended punishments in terrorism cases.
&#8220;I have not seen evidence that the Sentencing Commission relied on evidence that it would reduce recidivism,&#8221; she said. She said recent research in the Georgetown Law Journal said terrorists are not uniquely incapable of being rehabilitated.
The sentencing took more than seven hours, with much of the time dedicated to discussing how Roske&#8217;s transgender identity meant he should get a lighter sentence.
In a more than hour-long speech justifying the light sentence, Boardman said &#8220;Ms. Roske came out to herself as transgender in 2020 but kept it secret. Ms. Roske&#8217;s sister came out as gay two years prior but Ms. Roske saw that their parents struggled to reconcile her sexuality with their religious beliefs.&#8221;
<blockquote>
<h1>“I am heartened that this terrible infraction has helped the Roske family… accept their daughter for who she is,” Judge Boardman said.</h1>
</blockquote>
“I am heartened that this terrible infraction has helped the Roske family… accept their daughter for who she is,” Judge Boardman said.
His mother Colleen told the judge on Friday that “I have attended PFLAG meetings and learned about the LGBTQ+ community. I am committed to going on this journey with Sophie&#8230; She was frustrated with what was going on in the world, and we weren&#8217;t a safe place to process it.&#8221; As his mother wept, Nicholas Roske also choked up, his Adam&#8217;s apple bobbing up and down.
Boardman said &#8220;Any prison time is punishment for her. The length doesn&#8217;t need to be particularly long&#8230; unduly harsh conditions make a difference, too.&#8221; The judge continued, &#8220;She will be imprisoned in a male facility even though she is a transgender prisoner, pursuant to an executive order from the president. Before the executive order, that wasn&#8217;t the case.&#8221;
Roske and his mother, father, and sister all spoke in court, emotionally describing how hard it has been on the family. Kavanaugh&#8217;s relatives did not address the court, but left the courtroom abruptly after the judge issued the light sentence.
Earlier in the hearing, Boardman lashed out at prosecutors and President Donald Trump, saying &#8220;Let&#8217;s not hide the fact that President Trump issued an executive order saying transgender inmates would be assigned to prisons with their biological sex.&#8221; The prosecutor replied that there was an injunction holding up much of the enforcement of that executive order, and the judge later state that Roske could, in fact, get hormone replacement in prison, at least while the injunction was in effect.
In court, Roske appeared as a tall man with a deep voice. His online posts show that even as a transgender, he is attracted to women, not &#8220;cis men.&#8221;
The judge opined about giving a shorter sentence because of Roske&#8217;s transgenderism even as she said that thanks to a court injunction, Roske may get female hormones in federal prison. &#8220;With the injunction in place, Ms. Roske could receive gender affirming care, but if that injunction goes away, she could be denied it. So when I sentence her, I take into account that she is a transgender woman.&#8221;
Prosecutor Coreen Mao said &#8220;A single-digit sentence will say the ends justify the means, it&#8217;s a gamble one will take to assassinate a Supreme Court justice.&#8221;
Boardman said &#8220;Why do you think that Ms. Roske, sitting here three years later, poses a danger to the public? &#8230; We can agree Ms. Roske neeeds intensive therapy. Will she be provided that in the Bureau of Prisons? We both know about the significant shortcomings by BOP in providing therapy.&#8221;
Roske&#8217;s lawyer said, and Boardman agreed, that Roske should get significant credit for calling the police and telling them about his plan. Prosecutors said he was spooked when he saw deputy U.S. Marshalls guarding Kavanaugh&#8217;s home.
His lawyer said &#8220;What makes this case unique is not that Ms. Roske tried to kill a political figure, it&#8217;s that she stopped and turned herself in.&#8221;
Boardman interjected: &#8220;Judges are not political!&#8221;
During the trial, the judge referred to the defendant by female pronouns, sometimes calling him by male pronouns and then correcting herself. Prosecutors avoided pronouns and called him &#8220;the defendant.&#8221; As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-attempted-kavanaugh-assassin-identifies-as-transgender-woman-legal-filings-show">reported</a> last month, Roske&#8217;s legal name remains Nicholas and the case is captioned United States vs. Nicholas Roske. His legal team telegraphed ahead of the trial that much of the argument at sentencing would be based around this transgender identity.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/would-be-kavanaugh-assassin-should-be-let-off-easy-because-he-identifies-as-transgender-family-says?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Would-Be+Kavanaugh+Assassin+Should+Be+Let+Off+Easy+Because+He+Identifies+As+Transgender%2C+Family+Says">Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin Should Be Let Off Easy Because He Identifies As Transgender, Family Says</a>
A Daily Wire review of Roske’s postings on Reddit before the shooting shows that he is one in a string of violent trans-identifying individuals who are obsessed with video games and leftist politics. In one, he said he was a “Trans Gamer Girl Seeking Friend.” In another, he said he was “Seeking Daddy to Have Complete Sexual Control Over Me.”
Still another post said “Dating: I am into androgynous or feminine people who use she/her pronouns&#8230;. Play Partners: Pretty kinky, have a fet account and everything&#8230;. If you are not a cis man, chances are I am interested in playing with you :).”
Like the boyfriend of Tyler Robinson, who allegedly assassinated Charlie Kirk, Roske was apparently a “furry.”
He put out a classified ad calling himself a “MtF Pet For Owner.” It said, “I want to wear nothing but a collar, ears, and tail plug and communicate only through my body what I want.”
In one Reddit post, he explained that “I am pro-abortion (in favor of aborting fetuses, not pro-choice).” He said that all babies should be aborted, because they cannot give consent to being born. “This would require no deaths of people already in existence, it would simply prevent new people from coming into existence. Over time, resources would become more plentiful, another benefit of this method,” he wrote.
On May 20, 2022, he asked Reddit users, “The Roe v Wade leak has brought a lot of attention to the supreme court and what it is capable of. If going into the future the supreme court retains the same members, what is a realistic expectation for the future? On the other hand, if a conservative judge were replaced by a liberal judge, thus changing which party has the majority, what would change?”
The next day, he posted in Reddit’s “forensics” forum, claiming to be a novelist: “Writing a killer who is obsessed with not leaving evidence. What methods could they use?”

Nicholas Roske / Brett Kavanaugh

Transgender Man Who Planned To Assassinate Brett Kavanaugh Will Serve Just 8 Years

Maryland

President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to review the legality of his bid to limit birthright citizenship in the United States, teeing up a major test of one of his most contentious policies that could alter how the U.S. Constitution has long been understood on the subject.
The Justice Department filed two appeals of lower court rulings that blocked Trump&#8217;s executive order, which the Republican president signed on his first day back in office in January as a key part of his hardline approach toward immigration.
&#8220;The lower court&#8217;s decisions invalidated a policy of prime importance to the President and his Administration in a manner that undermines our border security. Those decisions confer, without lawful justification, the privilege of American citizenship on hundreds of thousands of unqualified people,&#8221; the Justice Department wrote in the appeals.
The department asked the Supreme Court to take up and resolve the case in its new term, which begins on October 6.
Trump&#8217;s executive order directed federal agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of children born in the United States who do not have at least one parent who is an American citizen or lawful permanent resident, also called a &#8220;green card&#8221; holder.
His action drew a series of lawsuits arguing among other things that the order violates a right enshrined in the Constitution&#8217;s 14th Amendment that provides that anyone born in the United States is a citizen.
After multiple lower courts halted the order as unconstitutional, the administration took the disputes to the Supreme Court in an effort to challenge the power of federal judges to issue so-called &#8220;universal&#8221; injunctions preventing presidential policies from applying against anyone, anywhere.
That action led the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, to issue a landmark ruling in June blunting the power of judges. But that ruling left open the possibility for courts to grant broad relief to states or to individual plaintiffs through class action lawsuits.
Two challenges to Trump&#8217;s order are at issue in Friday&#8217;s appeals. One was filed by the state of Washington and three other states, and the other by a group of individuals who sued in federal court in New Hampshire.
In July, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the states, while U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante in Concord, New Hampshire, let the plaintiffs in that case proceed as a class, allowing Trump&#8217;s order to be blocked nationally.
&#8220;This executive order is illegal &#8211; full stop &#8211; and no amount of maneuvering from the administration is going to change that. We will continue to ensure that no baby&#8217;s citizenship is ever stripped away by this cruel and senseless order,&#8221; Cody Wofsy, an attorney for the New Hampshire plaintiffs, told Reuters on Friday.
The administration is asking the justices to hear the New Hampshire dispute even before a Boston-based federal appeals court has ruled in the case.
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The 14th Amendment&#8217;s citizenship clause states that all &#8220;persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.&#8221; The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War of 1861-1865 that ended slavery in the United States.
The administration contends that the 14th Amendment, long understood to confer citizenship to virtually anyone born in the United States, does not extend to immigrants who are in the country illegally or even to immigrants whose presence is lawful but temporary, such as university students or those on work visas.
In Friday&#8217;s filings, the Justice Department said that a policy of universal birthright citizenship &#8220;operates as a powerful incentive for illegal migration&#8221; and has &#8220;spawned an industry of modern &#8216;birth tourism,&#8217; by which foreigners travel to the United States solely for the purpose of giving birth here.&#8221;
Since Trump returned to office, his administration has repeatedly asked the Supreme Court to intervene on an emergency basis to implement his policies even as their legality is tested in court, after judges blocked them.
The Supreme Court has sided with the administration in nearly every case it has been asked to review &#8211; including several related to Trump&#8217;s efforts to restrict migration and accelerate deportations.
The latest decision favoring Trump came on Friday, when the court allowed him to withhold about $4 billion in foreign aid authorized by Congress for the current fiscal year.
(Reporting by Andrew Chung in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham)

Donald Trump Signs Memorandum In The Oval Office

Trump Asks Supreme Court To Hear Birthright Citizenship Case

birthright citizenship

Illegal Immigration

Mexico

WASHINGTON—The man who attempted to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh identifies as a transgender woman and was deeply mentally ill and suicidal, according to court documents first obtained by The Daily Wire.
The Department of Justice is recommending that the defendant, 29-year-old Nicholas Roske, be sentenced to 30 years in prison for attempting to kill the Supreme Court justice in 2022, according to a Friday filing outlining the case against Roske. Roske pled guilty to the attempt to kill a United States Supreme Court Justice in April 2025, three years after authorities arrested him in Kavanaugh&#8217;s neighborhood, carrying a bag full of weapons and burglary tools.
A filing from Roske&#8217;s defense attorneys shows that Roske now goes by &#8220;Sophie Roske&#8221; and that his legal team will refer to him using female pronouns. A footnote on the filing, obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire, explains that the defense will not use Roske&#8217;s legal name &#8220;out of respect&#8221; for the would-be assassin.
&#8220;The case is captioned as United States v. Nicholas John Roske,&#8221; lawyers for Roske state. &#8220;That name remains Ms. Roske&#8217;s legal name, and she has not asked to recaption the case. Out of respect for Ms. Roske, the balance of this pleading and counsel&#8217;s in-court argument will refer to her as Sophie and use female pronouns.&#8221;
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-974855 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/kavanaugh_defense_filing_720-445x576.jpg" alt="" width="445" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/kavanaugh_defense_filing_720-445x576.jpg 445w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/kavanaugh_defense_filing_720-232x300.jpg 232w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/kavanaugh_defense_filing_720.jpg 556w" sizes=" (max-width: 445px) 100vw, 445px" /></div>
A source familiar with the legal proceedings in the case told The Daily Wire that Roske was using female identities online before the attempted murder, and now goes by the female name reflected in the defense filings.
Attorney General Pam Bondi told The Daily Wire that the attack is viewed as &#8220;political violence&#8221; and referred to Roske as a &#8220;disturbed individual.&#8221;
“This attempt against the life of a Supreme Court Justice was an attack on the entire judicial system that cannot go unpunished,&#8221; Bondi told The Daily Wire on Friday morning. &#8220;This Department of Justice condemns political violence and our prosecutors will ensure that this disturbed individual faces severe consequences for his deranged actions.”
In the filings obtained by The Daily Wire, Justice Department attorneys argue that the court&#8217;s sentence &#8220;must send the unequivocal, clear, and strong message that attempted violence and threats of violence against members of the judiciary — as well as other public and federal officials — cannot and will not be tolerated, and will be justly and severely condemned.&#8221;
They specifically state that the court&#8217;s sentence must be significant enough to not only &#8220;reflect the harm sought to be inflicted on the judiciary,&#8221; but also to send a message that the &#8220;consequences for these acts — no fewer than 30 years to life in prison — are not worth the perceived ideological ends.&#8221;
The revelation that Roske has been using a female name and pronouns is significant, given the rise in transgender violence across the United States. A gunman living with his transgender boyfriend is accused of murdering Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk last week. Kirk&#8217;s murder came only a few weeks after a 23-year-old trans-identifying gunman named Robin Westman opened fire on Catholic school children while they were praying in Minneapolis.
Kirk&#8217;s accused killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was living with a 22-year-old trans-identified male named Lance Twiggs, who was <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/charlie-kirk-alleged-assassins-roommate-problematic-before-family-kicked-him-out-relative-says">thrown out of his family home</a> for allegedly abusing drugs and alcohol and excessive gaming. Robinson and Twiggs were in a romantic relationship, authorities said.
<div id="attachment_974729" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-attempted-kavanaugh-assassin-identifies-as-transgender-woman-legal-filings-show/political-activist-charlie-kirk-shot-dead-at-utah-valley-university-15" rel="attachment wp-att-974729"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-974729" class="wp-image-974729 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2234173687-3-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2234173687-3-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2234173687-3-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2234173687-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2234173687-3.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>(Photo by Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)</div>
The killings have prompted calls for investigations into transgender violence and extremism. Earlier this month, Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to President Donald Trump and senior director for counterterrorism, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/calls-to-investigate-trans-domestic-terrorism-escalate-after-devastating-school-shooting">told</a> The Daily Wire that the new draft U.S. Counterterrorism Plan addresses transgender violence.
The Daily Wire reported September 4 that the Justice Department was considering blocking trans-identifying people from buying firearms as part of &#8220;a range of options to prevent mentally unstable individuals from committing acts of violence, especially at schools.&#8221; Those discussions centered on the fact that those who identify as transgender suffer from gender dysphoria, a mental disorder describing the sense of unease that a man or woman may feel if he or she thinks that their biological sex is mismatched with their so-called gender identity.
And on Thursday, the conservative Oversight Project urged the FBI to designate &#8220;Transgender Ideology Violent Extremism&#8221; (TIVE) as a domestic extremism threat category and to &#8220;use the full toolkit of the FBI to prevent future attacks inspired by this ideology.&#8221;
Though it was reported in 2022 that Roske portrayed himself as a self-styled “trans gamer girl” on the internet, more information about the attempted assassin&#8217;s gender identity has not been made available to the public. Roske&#8217;s story had largely vanished from public scrutiny, other than occasional updates on his sentencing and charges.
The Friday DOJ filings show that Roske &#8220;meticulously researched, planned, and attempted to assassinate at least one — but had a stated target of three — sitting judges of the United States Supreme Court&#8221; with the &#8220;explicit objective&#8221; of &#8220;single-handedly&#8221; altering &#8220;the Constitutional order for ideological ends.&#8221; He conducted internet searches for the homes of the four Justices, purchased a Glock 17 pistol, ammunition, a rail-mounted tactical light with laser sight, tactical gloves, non-slip grip socks, cable ties, pepper spray, a lock pick set, a screwdriver, and a wrecking bar.
&#8220;My mental health is too poor for me to fear death,&#8221; he wrote on Discord on March 18, 2022, to another user, according to the DOJ filing. &#8220;But prison sounds worse. To be monitored to the point where you can&#8217;t even kill yourself. So if I did kill someone I would definitely try to get away with it.&#8221;
In April 2022, he was googling shooting videos, school shooting videos, mass shootings, and shooters, searching how to &#8220;buy guns online&#8221; and &#8220;which person&#8217;s death would have the biggest impact on the world?&#8221;
<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25476861-roskemts2010325/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Court filings show</a> that Roske described himself as “actively suicidal” and said he wanted to “do something positive before I die” by taking out Kavanaugh before the justice could vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. He found Kavanaugh’s neighborhood online after he saw an article with a “picture of the family’s house,” including the house number, because far-left activists had posted the addresses of the justices online in an attempt to intimidate them into preserving Roe.
<div id="attachment_974727" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-attempted-kavanaugh-assassin-identifies-as-transgender-woman-legal-filings-show/abortion-rights-protests-continue-outside-supreme-court-justices-homes-5" rel="attachment wp-att-974727"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-974727" class="wp-image-974727 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1240755886-865x576.jpg" alt="" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1240755886-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1240755886-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1240755886-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1240755886.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" /></a>Police officers look on as far-left abortion supporters protest outside the home of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. (Photo by Bonnie Cash/Getty Images)</div>
In May 2022, POLITICO published a leaked draft Supreme Court opinion showing that the court was poised to overturn Roe, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision establishing a constitutional right to an abortion. That leak prompted protests outside the homes of the justices, the publication of their addresses online, and Roske&#8217;s journey from California to Maryland.
“I was thinking about — I was thinking about killing Brett Kavanaugh and then killing myself,” he said to the <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25476860-roskesuppmts010325/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">officers who arrived</a> on the scene, according to January court filings. “And then I texted my sister that I loved her. And then she called me and she told me not to do it. And then I called 9-1-1.”
“I saw the news and it was upsetting, and I was already suicidal,” he told detectives later, as he described how he tracked down Kavanaugh’s home and planned the assassination. “And I don’t know. It was something to — it was like a project I guess.”
“When I saw the leaked draft, it made me upset and then it made me want to — I don’t know,” he shared. “I was under the delusion that I could make the world a better place by killing him.”
The DOJ filings show that after the Supreme Court leak, Roske searched terms relating to combat and body armor approximately 28 times. Within a month, he had searched for firearms-related terms over 90 times. That included &#8220;quietest semi auto rifle,&#8221; &#8220;gun calibers,&#8221; &#8220;best silencers for glock 17,&#8221; and more. He was also searching &#8220;do snipers aim for the head or the chest,&#8221; &#8220;does the secret service protect supreme court justices,&#8221; &#8220;easiest way to opena. locked door,&#8221; &#8220;how to break glass quietly,&#8221; &#8220;how to make shoes quieter,&#8221; and &#8220;how to make handcuffs with zip ties.&#8221;
On Discord, he was asking his online friends: &#8220;Would [associate justices&#8217; last name] being removed from the [Supreme Court] help women long term?&#8221; And, &#8220;I was thinking of the Roe decision. I feel like those 9 people make a much bigger impact than most people,&#8221; and &#8220;the thought of Roe v. Wade and gay marriage both being repealed has me furious.&#8221;
He was also researching how to kill people. Between May and June 2022, Roske was looking into the &#8220;most effective place to stab someone&#8221; and &#8220;how to quietly knock someone out.&#8221; He was searching &#8220;How far into the neck is the trachea,&#8221; &#8220;what is the best length of knife for stabbing,&#8221; the &#8220;Most effective way to silently kill someone,&#8221; and &#8220;how much force do you need to stab someone&#8217;s neck.&#8221;
And he had an interest in fleeing to a foreign country — Roske was searching for &#8220;countries that don&#8217;t extradite to the US,&#8221; &#8220;how to get a passport in California,&#8221; &#8220;does Sweden extradite to the US,&#8221; and more.
He was also fully aware of what might happen after he committed an assassination, searching for information about an insanity defense. &#8220;What happens if you are suicidal in prison,&#8221; he searched, and, &#8220;If you are hospitalized after a crime what happens.&#8221;
Roske flew from California to Dulles International Airport after he found Kavanaugh’s home using media photographs of protests outside the justice’s home.
<div id="attachment_974723" style="width: 843px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-attempted-kavanaugh-assassin-identifies-as-transgender-woman-legal-filings-show/abortion-advocates-demonstrate-at-supreme-court-justices-homes-2" rel="attachment wp-att-974723"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-974723" class="wp-image-974723 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1396767466-833x576.jpg" alt="" width="833" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1396767466-833x576.jpg 833w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1396767466-300x207.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1396767466-768x531.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1396767466.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 833px) 100vw, 833px" /></a>Far-left abortion supporters protest outside the home of U.S. Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on May 11, 2022. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)</div>
POLITICO&#8217;s report acknowledged that it would likely &#8220;intensify&#8221; the already feverish debate, in the summer of 2022, over abortion and the Supreme Court decision. The publication was <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/08/politico-finalist-draft-opinion-overturning-abortion-rights-00095845" target="_blank" rel="noopener">named as a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize</a> for the story, though the story <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/05/politico-pulitzer-prize" target="_blank" rel="noopener">did not win the prize</a>.
“No draft decision in the modern history of the court has been disclosed publicly while a case was still pending,” <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote journalists Josh Gerstein and </a><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alexander Ward</a> in their story on the leaked draft. “The unprecedented revelation is bound to intensify the debate over what was already the most controversial case on the docket this term.”
Authorities have failed to track down the leaker of the Supreme Court opinion.
In May, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said that the FBI is giving increased scrutiny to the “leak of the Supreme Court Dobbs case,” among a few other high-profile cases that have not been properly investigated.
“I receive requested briefings on these cases weekly and we are making progress,” Bongino <a href="https://x.com/FBIDDBongino/status/1926961051129508247" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “If you have any investigative tips on these matters that may assist us then please contact the FBI.”

kavanaugh-exclusive-16x9_720

EXCLUSIVE: Attempted Kavanaugh Assassin Identifies As Transgender Woman, Legal Filings Show

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to quickly take up a case on President Donald Trump&#8217;s wide-ranging tariffs, setting up a major decision on one of the biggest policies of Trump&#8217;s second term, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-agrees-consider-whether-trumps-tariffs-are-legal-rcna229069">reported</a>.
The Supreme Court will hear the case after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled late last month that Trump overstepped his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs on imports from dozens of countries. Last week, the Trump administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-asks-scotus-to-take-swift-action-to-save-his-tariffs">asked</a> the Supreme Court to begin hearing arguments in the case as soon as November, arguing that the Appeals Court&#8217;s decision “gravely undermines the President’s ability to conduct real-world diplomacy and his ability to protect the national security and economy of the United States.”
The Supreme Court agreed to enter a streamlined process and will begin hearing oral arguments the first week of November.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-ruling-against-trump-tariffs-could-trigger-1-trillion-economic-disaster-bessent-warns">warned</a> on Monday that if Trump&#8217;s tariffs are stopped, the United States would have to refund around $1 trillion to importers, a development that Bessent said would &#8220;cause significant disruption&#8221; to the U.S. economy. U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer agreed, saying, “With tariffs, we are a rich nation; without tariffs, we are a poor nation… The economic consequences would be ruinous.”
Trump also blasted the decision from the Appeals Court, arguing that “it would be a total disaster for the Country” if his tariffs were rescinded.
“If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America,” he added.
The Appeals Court delayed implementation of its order until October 14, giving the Trump administration time to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Many of Trump&#8217;s tariffs went into effect in early August before the the U.S. Court of Appeals stepped in and ruled that Trump does not have the authority to impose them. The Appeals Court ruled, “Absent a valid delegation by Congress, the President has no authority to impose taxes. Given these considerations, we conclude Congress, in enacting IEEPA, did not give the President wide-ranging authority to impose tariffs of the nature of the Trafficking and Reciprocal Tariffs simply by the use of the term ‘regulate … importation.’”
“The core Congressional power to impose taxes such as tariffs is vested exclusively in the legislative branch by the Constitution,” the court added.
The issue centers on the IEEPA, which was enacted in 1977 and allows the president to impose tariffs on any import to the United States after declaring a national emergency. On April 2, Trump “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-declares-national-emergency-to-increase-our-competitive-edge-protect-our-sovereignty-and-strengthen-our-national-and-economic-security/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> that foreign trade and economic practices have created a national emergency,” adding that he would impose “responsive tariffs to strengthen the international economic position of the United States and protect American workers.”
If Trump loses at the Supreme Court, his administration has been looking into other ways to impose tariffs, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/white-house-exploring-keep-trumps-tariffs-supreme-court-strikes-rcna229175">reported</a>. Trump could rely on laws under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which gives the president power to levy some tariffs. Some of the president&#8217;s tariffs already in effect fall under this law and would not be affected by a Supreme Court decision shooting down Trump&#8217;s tariffs under the IEEPA.

SCOTUS Agrees To Hear Case On Trump’s Tariffs After Admin Asks For ‘Swift’ Action

Economy

Tariffs

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett defended the 2022 decision overturning landmark abortion cases Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey during a recent interview — and also admitted that the public protest in reaction to that case caused her to invest in a bulletproof vest for her own protection.
Barrett, in her first interview since joining the court in 2020, told CBS anchor Norah O&#8217;Donnell that the Court&#8217;s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women&#8217;s Health Organization had not outlawed abortion at all, but rather had returned it to the democratic process. She also said that both Roe and Casey had wrongfully defended a &#8220;right&#8221; that did not exist under the Constitution.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Must Watch: Justice Amy Coney Barrett sets the record straight on the majority&#8217;s message to the American people in the Dobbs decision:
“The central message of Dobbs: Dobbs did not render abortion illegal. Dobbs did not say anything about whether abortion is immoral. Dobbs said… <a href="https://t.co/isFjhf8NdM">pic.twitter.com/isFjhf8NdM</a>
— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) <a href="https://twitter.com/JCNSeverino/status/1965062438266527828?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The central message of Dobbs: Dobbs did not render abortion illegal. Dobbs did not say anything about whether abortion is immoral. Dobbs said that these are questions that are left to the states. &#8230; What Dobbs says is that those calls are properly left to the democratic process, and the states have been working those out,&#8221; Barrett said.
&#8220;The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs gave that decision to the democratic process and to the states,” Barrett said. “It didn’t roll back rights. It didn’t render abortion illegal, unconstitutional, or anything else. And in effect, many states very fully protected abortion rights, more than under the regime of Roe since the time of the decision in Dobbs.&#8221;
O&#8217;Donnell pushed back, arguing that overturning Roe had stripped away &#8220;a federal right to abortion. A constitutional right to an abortion.&#8221;
Barrett argued that such a right had never existed in the first place — and that both Roe and Casey &#8220;had been in error&#8221; to assert that it had.
&#8220;Well, what it said is that the Constitution had not protected the abortion right under the Due Process Clause. And it said that Roe had been an error and Casey had been in error to hold otherwise,&#8221; she said.
The protests that erupted both before and after the decision was rendered — particularly after a leaked draft of the decision went public — prompted Barrett to take action to protect herself. She told O&#8217;Donnell that she&#8217;d purchased a bulletproof vest — and then had to explain to her own children why she&#8217;d felt the need to do so.

Supreme Court Justices Pose For Formal Group Photo

Justice Barrett Defends Dobbs Decision, Admits She Had To Buy Bulletproof Vest Afterward

Abortion

Amy Coney Barrett

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that the U.S. could be on the hook for a staggering $1 trillion in tariff refunds if the Supreme Court sides against President Trump’s trade agenda — a decision that could cripple the Treasury and kneecap America’s economic leverage.
At the heart of the legal battle is the Trump administration’s broad use of tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), particularly the so-called “reciprocal tariffs” that have imposed sweeping levies on imports. Two lower courts have declared the tariffs unconstitutional, contending they overstepped executive authority and amounted to taxation without congressional approval.
Bessent made it clear: If the Supreme Court rules against the administration, the U.S. government will be forced to refund as much as $1 trillion to importers, a move he called “terrible” for the Treasury and the economy, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/09/09/business/us-could-be-forced-to-refund-1-trillion-if-supreme-court-overturns-trumps-tariffs/">reported</a>.
“We’d have to do it,” Bessent <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-september-7-2025-n1312693">told</a> NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “But it would be terrible.”
According to court filings, the administration has already collected tens of billions in tariff revenue since Trump’s “Liberation Day” in April, with $30 billion in July alone, a 242% spike year-over-year. The total potentially owed could reach up to $1 trillion if the Supreme Court delays action.
Bessent did not mince words about the dangers of reversing the tariffs. “Unwinding them could cause significant disruption,” he said, emphasizing that economic benefits such as record stock market highs, increased capital expenditures, and strong GDP growth are largely due to the Trump tariff strategy.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer echoed Bessent, writing: “With tariffs, we are a rich nation; without tariffs, we are a poor nation… The economic consequences would be ruinous.”
Bessent was pressed repeatedly on “Meet the Press” on whether the administration would honor the court’s ruling if the tariffs were struck down.
“I mean, there’s no ‘be prepared,’” he said. “If the court says it, we’d have to do it.”
He cautioned that such a refund would not only harm the nation financially but also undermine the U.S. negotiating position globally, slow the progress made on rebalancing trade, and potentially reverse the economic momentum Trump has established.
Bessent dismissed complaints from corporations like John Deere and Nike, who blame the tariffs for profit losses and layoffs, calling them cherry-picked examples. He emphasized that Treasury is hearing a “record amount” of positive feedback from companies that support the tariffs.
Bessent rejected claims from Goldman Sachs and The New York Times that consumers are bearing the brunt, insisting that many foreign manufacturers are “eating the tariffs,” and that American economic strength is a direct result of the policy.
“This isn’t about the dollars,” Bessent said. “This is about balance. The dollars are an after amount.”
Bessent and President Trump see the court battle not just as a legal fight, but as a referendum on America’s right to defend its economic sovereignty.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Interview

Supreme Court Ruling Against Trump Tariffs Could Trigger $1 Trillion Economic Disaster, Bessent Warns

Bessent Warns Supreme Court Ruling Against Trump Tariffs Could Trigger $1 Trillion Economic Disaster

Scott Bessent

The brutal murder of a Ukrainian refugee in Charlotte highlights the deadly consequences of &#8220;soft-on-crime&#8221; policies in Democrat-run cities. The Supreme Court gives the green light for Trump&#8217;s ICE raids in Los Angeles as the U.S. and its allies coordinate on a global immigration crackdown. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fires back at Democrats who are demanding his resignation, vowing to continue his &#8220;Make America Healthy Again&#8221; agenda.
It’s Tuesday, September 9, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
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If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2>Charlotte Murder Highlights Failures of ‘Soft-on-Crime’ Policies</h2>
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Topline: The brutal, unprovoked murder of a Ukrainian refugee on a light rail train has left the city of Charlotte in shock and anger, putting a national spotlight on the deadly consequences of Democrat-led &#8220;soft-on-crime&#8221; policies. 
Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, was stabbed to death last month by DeCarlos Brown Jr., a homeless man with a lengthy and violent criminal record. The horrific attack took place in what was once a safe, trendy part of the city, but residents say rising crime and a growing homeless population have made them feel unsafe. Charlotte saw a 25% increase in its homicide rate last year, and robberies in the city center are up 54%. 
The city&#8217;s Democratic mayor, Li Vyles, responded to the murder by calling for empathy for the perpetrator&#8217;s mental health issues, and did not mention the victim in her initial statement. Brown was on the streets despite at least 14 previous arrests for crimes, including armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. A judge gave him pre-trial release on his most recent arrest in January, and police had referred him &#8220;to resources&#8221; rather than jail after three other encounters in 2024. The policies that kept Brown out of jail were recommended by a &#8220;Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice,&#8221; which was created by North Carolina&#8217;s now-Governor, Democrat Josh Stein, in 2020. 
<h2>Supreme Court Upholds Trump’s ICE Raids in Los Angeles</h2>
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Topline: The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a major victory on Monday, ruling that federal immigration officials can continue their sweeping raids in the Los Angeles area and can consider factors like ethnicity and accent when detaining suspected illegal immigrants. 
The Court’s ruling overturns a lower court judge’s decision that had blocked the raids. Writing for the liberal minority, Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a dramatic dissent, claiming the court was subjecting people to the &#8220;indignities&#8221; of being handcuffed &#8220;simply because of their looks, their accents.&#8221; 
Border Czar Tom Homan pushed back on that characterization, stating that ICE is focused on public safety. &#8220;Seventy percent of everybody ICE is arresting is a criminal,&#8221; Homan said. The raids have yielded significant results, with over 1,600 arrests in D.C. alone, many of whom are suspected gang members and other violent offenders. 
The ruling comes as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem meets with the &#8220;Five Eyes&#8221; intelligence alliance in London to coordinate a global crackdown on human smuggling. The U.K.&#8217;s new Home Secretary has signaled a tougher stance on immigration that is more aligned with the Trump administration&#8217;s policies. 
<h2>RFK Fires Back as Democrats Demand His Resignation</h2>
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Topline: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pushing back against a coordinated campaign by Democrats demanding his resignation, vowing to continue his &#8220;Make America Healthy Again&#8221; (MAHA) agenda and restore integrity to public health. 
At least a dozen Democratic senators, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have signed a letter calling Kennedy’s agenda &#8220;dangerous&#8221; and &#8220;anti-science.&#8221; Former Republican Chris Christie also attacked Kennedy, calling him a &#8220;joke&#8221; and a &#8220;human middle finger to everybody who opposed&#8221; Trump. 
Blue state governors are also pushing back against Kennedy&#8217;s reforms. New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order to override new FDA guidance on COVID shots, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed legislation to ensure access to the abortion pill mifepristone, regardless of future FDA safety assessments. 
Kennedy, who enjoys broad public support for his agenda, has fiercely defended his actions. He has accused major medical organizations of being compromised by their Big Pharma sponsors and has vowed to bring in &#8220;new blood&#8221; and people &#8220;who are committed to public health, and integrity, and gold-standard science.&#8221; His department has already reformed baby formula standards, required drug price transparency, and stopped federal funding for gender surgeries for minors, among other changes.

MRN 9.09.25 Thumbnail V1

Morning Brief: Charlotte Train Murder, SCOTUS Upholds ICE Raids, Dems vs MAHA

Charlotte

Democrats

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Murder

North Carolina

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Within hours of the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to resume sweeps in Los Angeles, California, several prominent Democrats across the city and the state issued statements complaining about the ruling.
Fox News National Correspondent Bill Melugin shared a few of their comments — from Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass, Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA), and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — in a post on X.
&#8220;Reactions to SCOTUS allowing immigration sweeps to restart in LA: Mayor Bass: &#8216;Today&#8217;s ruling is not only dangerous, it&#8217;s un-American.&#8217; Gov. Newsom: &#8216;Trump&#8217;s hand-picked SCOTUS majority just became the Grand Marshal for a parade of racial terror in LA.&#8217; ACLU: &#8216;Outrageous.'&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Reactions to SCOTUS allowing immigration sweeps to restart in LA:
Mayor Bass: &#8220;Today&#8217;s ruling is not only dangerous, it&#8217;s un-American&#8221;.
Gov. Newsom: &#8220;Trump&#8217;s hand-picked SCOTUS majority just became the Grand Marshal for a parade of racial terror in LA&#8221;.
ACLU: &#8220;Outrageous&#8221;
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillMelugin_/status/1965132720113418548?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Newsom&#8217;s full statement went a bit further, claiming that the Trump administration planned to hunt down anyone who looked Latino: &#8220;Every person is now a target.&#8221;
&#8220;@realDonaldTrump&#8217;s hand-picked SCOTUS majority just became the Grand Marshal for a parade of racial terror in LA. His administration is targeting Latinos — and anyone who doesn’t look or sound like @StephenM&#8217;s idea of an American — to deliberately harm our families and economy.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Trump&#8217;s private police force now has a green light to come after your family.
Every person is now a target.
California will continue to do all we can fight these abhorrent attacks on Californians.
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) <a href="https://twitter.com/CAgovernor/status/1965127262531092507?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Trump&#8217;s private police force now has a green light to come after your family. Every person is now a target. California will continue to do all we can fight these abhorrent attacks on Californians,&#8221; Newsom continued.
&#8220;I want the entire nation to hear me when I say this isn’t just an attack on the people of LA, this is an attack on every person in every city in this country. Today’s ruling is not only dangerous – it’s un-American and threatens the fabric of personal freedom in the U.S.,&#8221; Mayor Bass said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I want the entire nation to hear me when I say this isn’t just an attack on the people of LA, this is an attack on every person in every city in this country.
Today’s ruling is not only dangerous – it’s un-American and threatens the fabric of personal freedom in the U.S. <a href="https://t.co/mFU4ZCh93L">https://t.co/mFU4ZCh93L</a>
— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorOfLA/status/1965129986307936354?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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At the nation&#8217;s highest court, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor registered her complaint as well, sounding quite a bit like the elected Democrats who object to federal immigration agents being permitted to enforce federal immigration laws.
&#8220;Instead of allowing the District Court to consider these troubling allegations in the normal course, a majority of this Court decides to take the once-extraordinary step of staying the District Court’s order. That decision is yet another grave misuse of our emergency docket,&#8221; Sotomayor protested. &#8220;We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Sotomayor dissent on SCOTUS decision on ICE raids in LA: “We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I…
— Jesse Rodriguez (@JesseRodriguez) <a href="https://twitter.com/JesseRodriguez/status/1965094959817572823?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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