Nicholas John Roske, age 26, of Simi Valley, California in a criminal complaint filed Wednesday was charged with attempted murder of a Supreme Court justice.
Roske was charged with “attempts to kidnap or murder, or threatens to kidnap or murder a United States Judge, to wit: a current Justice of the United States Supreme Court,” according to the complaint signed by FBI special agent Ian Roske was charged with “attempts to kidnap or murder, or threatens to kidnap or murder a United States Judge, to wit: a current Justice of the United States Supreme Court,” according to the complaint signed by FBI special agent Ian Montijo.
The news came after a Supreme Court spokeswoman confirmed that an armed man was detained after threatening Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.
According to the affidavit, the luggage and backpack contained, among other things, a 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, and hiking boots.
Also according to the affidavit, Roske later claimed that he bought the pistol and other goods with the idea of killing both the justice and himself.
According to the document, Roske said he located the address of the justice online.
The affidavit stated that the Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center got a call from Nicholas John Roske. The affidavit said that this man told the center he was having thoughts of suicide and possessed a pistol, and that he came from California to murder a particular Supreme Court justice.
According to the affidavit, police spotted Roske while he was still on the phone with the emergency communications center and brought him into jail.
Roske eventually confessed his motivations to a detective, saying he was “upset over the release of a recent Supreme Court draft judgment involving the right to abortion as well as the recent murder in Uvalde, Texas,” according to the affidavit.
According to a press statement from the Department of Justice’s U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Maryland, while a criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt, if convicted, Roske faces a maximum term of 20 years in federal prison.
According to a report by a local ABC affiliate and the Associated Press, Roske made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on Wednesday. Roske will remain in custody and has forfeited his right to a bond hearing, according to the publication.
Roske will be held in detention until his preliminary hearing on June 22, according to ABC correspondent Beatrice Peterson.
The alleged attack against Kavanaugh was first reported by the Washington Post on Wednesday morning, according to unidentified sources.
Following the release of a Supreme Court draft opinion in May indicating that justices are ready to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationally, pro-life pregnancy centers and churches have been destroyed several times in recent weeks.
The official opinion or decision in that case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, is scheduled to be released towards the end of June or the beginning of July.