California Man Who Plotted to Kill Justice Kavanaugh Sentenced to 97 Months as Justice Department Vows to Appeal
On October 3, 2025, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland, sentenced Nicholas John Roske, 29, of Simi Valley, California, to 97 months in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Roske had pleaded guilty to attempting to kill a United States Supreme Court Justice, admitting that he flew from California to Montgomery County, Maryland, with a firearm intending to carry out the killing. The Department of Justice had advocated for a sentence of at least 30 years to life.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement that day that the attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a disgusting attack against the entire judicial system, and that the Department of Justice would appeal the woefully insufficient sentence imposed by the district court, which she said did not reflect the horrific facts of the case. FBI Director Kash Patel said violence against federal judges or other public officials is unacceptable.
As part of his guilty plea, Roske admitted that on June 7, 2022, he flew from Los Angeles International Airport to Dulles International Airport with a firearm and ammunition in a checked suitcase, then took a taxi to Montgomery County with the intent to kill the Supreme Court Justice. On June 8, 2022, at approximately 1:05 a.m., two Deputy U.S. Marshals protecting the residence of a Supreme Court Justice observed him arrive by taxi in front of the residence.
Shortly after, Roske told a Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center call taker that he was having homicidal and suicidal thoughts, had a gun in his suitcase, and had flown from California to kill a specific Supreme Court Justice; officers took him into custody. A search of his suitcase and backpack revealed a firearm, a black tactical chest rig and tactical knife, two magazines each containing 10 rounds of ammunition, 17 additional rounds, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, screwdrivers, a nail punch, a crowbar, a pistol light, duct tape and lock-pick tools, among other items.
After his arrest, Roske told a detective he was upset about a recently leaked Supreme Court draft decision on abortion as well as the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and admitted he had come from California with the intent to use the firearm and burglary tools to kill the Justice; asked what his plan was if everything was clear, he answered, "Break in [and] shoot" the Associate Justice. The FBI Baltimore Field Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Montgomery County Police Department and the Supreme Court Police Department investigated the case, with assistance from the FBI Los Angeles Field Office. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国最高法院大楼（资料图，位于华盛顿）。Joe Ravi 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The United States Supreme Court Building in Washington (file photo). Photo by Joe Ravi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
