ct // Man seeks to plead guilty in Supreme Court assassination plot

Ryan Tarinelli, CQ-Roll Call on Apr 2, 2025

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WASHINGTON — A man wants to plead guilty as soon as next week on a charge of plotting to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh following the leak of a draft Supreme Court decision, according to a court filing from his attorneys Wednesday.

Nicholas Roske “wishes to enter a plea of guilty” to one count of attempting to assassinate a Justice of the United States, although there is no plea agreement, the lawyers wrote to the judge in the case.

Roske was arrested after authorities said they found him near Kavanaugh’s Maryland residence in June 2022.

A letter to the judge, signed by Roske and his attorneys, said the government would be able to prove the case if it went to trial, including that Roske told authorities he flew from Los Angeles to the Washington area in June 2022 with the intent to kill Kavanaugh and then himself.

After landing, Roske took a taxi to the Maryland neighborhood where Kavanaugh lived, exited the vehicle close to the justice’s residence but instead turned to walk away from the house, the letter states.

“Shortly thereafter, Mr. Roske called 911 to report that he was having suicidal and homicidal thoughts. He further stated that he was from California and that he ‘came over here to act on them,’” the letter states. “Mr. Roske also told the 911 dispatcher that he had weapons and burglary tools in his suitcase.”

He had zip ties, a pistol, ammunition, pepper spray, a tactical chest rig, a tactical knife and a hammer, authorities have said. Roske later told a detective he was upset about the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and the leak of a draft Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, according to an affidavit.

Roske indicated he thought the justice would side with decisions that would loosen gun control laws, according to the filing, and told authorities he started to think about how to give his life a purpose and decided to kill the justice.

The letter to the judge says the maximum sentence for the offense is life imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.