Authorities say a heavily armed 26-year-old man arrested near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home on Wednesday told them he meant to kill the conservative jurist and then himself.
In a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, he was identified as Nicholas John Roske of Simi Valley, California.
‘Roske allegedly informed officers that he was furious about the recent Supreme Court draft judgment about the right to abortion, as well as the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas,’ according to Maryland officials.
He was accused with attempted murder of a US judge, and if convicted, he may face a sentence of up to 20 years in jail.
Roske was also armed with a ‘black tactical chest rig and tactical knife, a Glock 17 pistol with two magazines and ammunition, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, screwdriver, nail punch, crow bar, pistol light, duct tape, hiking boots with padding on the outside of the soles, and other items,’ according to an accompanying court filing.
After obtaining Kavanaugh’s location online, officials believe Roske took a taxi cab to the front of his house.
At 1:05 a.m., two Deputy US Marshalls watched him exit the truck and look in their direction before heading down the street.
While in Kavanaugh’s area, Roske called 911 and told them he was armed and suicidal. According to the lawsuit, he told responding officials that he wanted to assassinate a “certain Supreme Court justice.”
Supreme Court spokesman Patricia McCabe confirmed to DailyMail.com in a statement that he was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
‘A man was apprehended near Justice Kavanaugh’s house at roughly 1:50 a.m. today.’ The individual was armed, and he threatened Kavanaugh. He was taken to the 2nd District of Montgomery County Police,’ she stated.
It comes after a wave of anti-abortion protests across the country, including outside the homes of Supreme Court justices, as well as attacks on churches, pro-life institutions, and abortion facilities by opponents.
Republicans in Congress, who previously pressed the White House to take a tougher stance against the protests, now accuse the administration of creating the conditions that led to the incident.
According to people acquainted with the inquiry, the individual was also outraged over the recent spate of mass shootings throughout the country, which have taken dozens of lives in recent weeks.
It’s not clear if Kavanaugh or his family were home at the time.
DailyMail.com reached out to the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland for comment but was referred to the FBI for specific details on the suspect.
The FBI said they had no additional information to provide.
After he was accused of sexual assault by a former high school classmate, Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court by Donald Trump sparked a whirlwind of controversy.
In March 2020, Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sent an alarming warning to Kavanaugh regarding abortion rights.
‘I’d like to tell you something, Kavanaugh…
You set off the whirlwind, and now you must pay the price. If you keep making these bad judgments, you won’t know what hit you,’ Schumer added.
He’s one of three conservative supermajority judges Trump appointed to the court at a time when it’s dealing with its most highly charged docket in decades.
Since Politico published a leaked opinion draft showing that the high court’s conservative majority considered ruling with Mississippi officials in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, tensions have been high on both sides of the aisle.
The state had urged the court to reduce the abortion limit to 15 weeks before asking the court to overturn Roe v. Wade’s protections entirely.
After he was accused of sexual assault by a former high school classmate, Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court by Donald Trump sparked a whirlwind of controversy.
In March 2020, Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sent an alarming warning to Kavanaugh regarding abortion rights.
‘I’d like to tell you something, Kavanaugh…
You set off the whirlwind, and now you must pay the price. If you keep making these bad judgments, you won’t know what hit you,’ Schumer added.
He’s one of three conservative supermajority judges Trump appointed to the court at a time when it’s dealing with its most highly charged docket in decades.
Since Politico published a leaked opinion draft showing that the high court’s conservative majority considered ruling with Mississippi officials in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, tensions have been high on both sides of the aisle.
The state had urged the court to reduce the abortion limit to 15 weeks before asking the court to overturn Roe v. Wade’s protections entirely.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a ‘heightened danger advisory,’ warning of rising violent occurrences caused by extremist groups and lone wolf attackers, citing growing antagonism between pro-life and pro-choice sides as one of the reasons.
‘In light of a high-profile U.S. Supreme Court case about abortion rights, individuals who advocate for and against abortion have encouraged violence in public forums, including against government, religious, and reproductive healthcare personnel and facilities, as well as those with opposing ideologies,’ the report stated.
Earlier this week a pro-life group’s offices was firebombed and graffitied by arsonists in a suburb of Buffalo, New York.
Around the same time, an abortion clinic was vandalized in North Carolina.
Initial fallout from the leaked memo involved peaceful demonstrations outside of the Supreme Court and even outside of justices’ homes – which Republican lawmakers warned could lead to violence against the jurists themselves.
The Biden administration was finally obliged to publish a statement affirming the ‘Constitutional right to demonstrate,’ as well as condemning ‘violence, threats, or vandalism,’ after rising pressure over its silence.
‘Judges serve an enormously important role in our society, and they must be free to do their duties without fear of personal harm,’ said Jen Psaki, then-press secretary for Vice President Joe Biden.
The Department of Homeland Security has issued a warning of “mass casualty violence” as a result of the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling.
On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a ‘heightened threat advisory,’ warning of an elevated danger of’mass casualty violence,’ fueled by extreme ideology and personal views across the country.
‘President Biden condemns this individual’s acts in the harshest terms, and is grateful to law enforcement for immediately apprehending him,’ White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told DailyMail.com on Wednesday.
‘As the President has repeatedly stated, public officials, including judges, must be allowed to do their jobs without fear for their own or their families’ safety,’ Bates added.
Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, blasted the “disturbing” episode, blaming other public figures’ “unhinged, dangerous, apocalyptic speech” in an apparent shot at Democrats’ outrage over the Roe text.
The leak, which Republicans have been decrying as the ultimate betrayal of institutional trust for weeks, received the most criticism from McConnell.
‘Exactly the kind of occurrence that many feared the egregious breakdown of the court’s rules and norms could foment,’ he said of the threat to Kavanaugh’s safety.
In the aftermath of the leak, the Kentucky Republican insisted that House Democrats support a Senate bill aimed at improving police protection for Justices.
‘House Democrats need to stop their multi-week blockade against the Supreme Court security bill and pass it before the sun sets today,’ he said.
Rep. Steve Scalise, the House Minority Whip, said during a press conference: ‘You saw from the White House on down to encourage people to go homes, the private homes of Supreme Court justices. It is a dangerous trend.’
‘Exercising First Amendment rights is one thing. Encouraging people to go to the homes of Supreme Court justices. You see where that can lead? And it’s a shame. Thank God law enforcement was able to arrest the man who was intending on committing that action,’ Scalise said.
Rep. Darrell Issa of California said the alleged plot to attack Kavanaugh was ‘a stark reminder of how the reckless rhetoric of this Administration and Democrat partisans can incite others to violence.’
‘It’s time for Democrats to finally condemn the hate they have brought to the front doors of justices and their families and provide them the protection they so obviously need,’ the Republican lawmaker said.
The incident was also criticized by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who said such attacks on Supreme Court Justices “strike at the heart of our democracy.”
At a press conference on Wednesday, he promised, “We will do everything we can to avoid them.”