Saturday, September 21, 2024
A California man was charged by the Justice Department on Wednesday for threats to kidnap and murder Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. ‘s house in Maryland early Wednesday with attempting or threatening to kidnap or murder a US judge.
26 year old Nicholas John Roske of of Simi Valley, CA was arrested near the US judge’s Maryland home after calling emergency response and informing dispatchers that he was suicidal and in possession of a firearm.
According to the official complaint, Rosek told responders that he had driven to Maryland from California with a gun in his suitcase in order to kill “a specific United States Supreme Court Justice.” According to Wednesday’s official FBI affidavit, Roske was emotionally motivated by the leak of the Supreme Court draft ruling pertaining to Roe v. wade, the Uvalde, Texas school shooting, and a piece of related gun control legislation.
Brett Kavanaugh was reportedly one of the justices in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade.
According to an FBI agent’s statement, “Roske indicated 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” The agent’s affidavit went on to say that Roske intended to kill himself as well.
The affidavit also said that at the time of his arrest, Roske was in possession of a suitcase and a backpack collectively containing a Glock 17 pistol, two loaded magazines and ammunition, a tactical knife, zip ties, pepper spray, a screwdriver, a hammer, a crowbar, a nail punch, and duct tape.
Last month, the Department of Homeland Security warned law enforcement in a memorandum about a steep rise in threats against the Supreme Court. The memo details that following the leaked draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade, the national debate on abortion rights in the US could turn violent, particular against Supreme Court Justices.