The California man arrested outside Brett Kavanaugh’s home last month had Googled “assassin skills,” “how to go stealth,” and “Reagan assassination,” and was hoping to murder a total of three of the judges, according to the FBI report.
Nicholas John Roske, 26, of Simi Valley, California, was arrested June 8 armed with a gun, knife and burglary tools after calling his sister, who encouraged him to call 911 and turn himself in.
On June 22, he pleaded not guilty to the assassination of the Supreme Court Justice and is scheduled to appear in court on August 23.
On Wednesday, it emerged that Roske had been logging on to Reddit forums with various emails seeking advice on assassinating an “HVT” – believed to be a “high value target.”
The request for an FBI search warrant reads: “Roske said he used his Reddit account to ask questions of people unknown to him in order to refine his plan to kill Justice.
“Roske also explained that on Monday, June 6, 2022, he attempted to use the settings menu on the Acer laptop to perform a data wipe on the device because Roske didn’t want anyone he was talking to to becomes involved in his actions. ‘
Nicholas John Roske, 26, (left) was arrested in June for allegedly attempting to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (right). On Wednesday, an FBI warrant said he was researching how to murder someone and seeking advice on online forums
Roske was arrested on a street near Kavanaugh’s Maryland home (pictured) where security was being tightened following the incident
Among the questions Roske asked on the Two X Chromosomes Reddit forum, which bills itself as offering a female perspective, were, “Would removing Kavanaugh from the SC help women in the long run?”
His emails also included messages thanking him for attending a shooting range and training facility.
On his cell phone, he searched for the “quietest semi-automatic rifle” and the “most effective place to stab someone,” the document said.
Roske also used messaging app Discord to discuss his plans and chatted about the conspiracy four weeks before his arrest.
On May 25, Roske, who had used the pseudonym “Sophie42,” allegedly wrote to Person #1: “I will keep Roe v Wade from being knocked over.”
The other person replied “what are you trying to do”.
“Remove some people from the Supreme Court,” Roske reportedly replied.
will you do To run?’ Person #1 wrote back.
‘after you mean?’ wrote Roske.
‘oh haha good,’ person #1 wrote.
“Two dead judges won’t do anything. The whole government is screwed. There is no rule that you would die before killing them all.
Roske then replied: “Yes, but I could get at least one, which would change the votes for decades to come, and I’m shooting for 3. All the major decisions of the last 10 years have been along party lines, so if there are any more liberal than conservative.” judges, they will have the power.
On May 27, Roske received an email from an online gun store called Southern Ordnance confirming his order for a $49.95 snap gun lock pick — used by locksmiths to pick locks.
The warrant was filed by the FBI on Wednesday and calls for access to all email, Reddit and Discord accounts used by Roske.
Roske allegedly spoke about his desire to assassinate three Supreme Court justices and chatted on a forum with a person he didn’t know
An FBI affidavit states that Roske told investigators he intended to kill Kavanaugh and himself on June 8. FBI agents were spotted in Roskes Simi Valley, California earlier this month
According to an FBI affidavit, Roske flew to Washington from California and was seen at Kavanaugh’s home in the middle of the night on June 8.
He carried a case armed with a Glock 17 pistol, two magazine pouches, a speedloader, a tactical knife, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, a screwdriver, a nail punch and a crowbar.
However, soon after arriving at the scene, police said he called 911 and said he was having suicidal thoughts.
He told the operator that he was going to kill Kavanaugh and then himself because he didn’t expect to get away with the crime.
Roske was quickly taken into custody after the call and allegedly confessed to investigators that he was upset about the Supreme Court’s leaked draft decision, suggesting that Kavanaugh and his fellow Conservative judges were poised to turn Roe V. Wade and women’s federal law on to overthrow abortion.
Investigators added that Roske told them he believed Kavanaugh would relax gun laws in the country after the deadly shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
“Roske stated that he started thinking about how to find meaning in his life and decided to kill the Supreme Court Justice,” the affidavit reads.
Roske (above) reportedly told detectives he was upset by the leak of a recent Supreme Court abortion-rights draft decision, as well as the recent school shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and plans to give his life for the voices of Kavanaughs to stop
The protesters returned to Kavanaugh’s Maryland home just hours after Roske’s arrest, while carrying a disturbing arsenal of weapons and equipment
A woman holds a “liar” sign with Kavanaugh’s face on June 8 and another that reads “Take care of your own womb.”
Washington Catholic Kavanaugh’s appointment to the High Court in 2018 sparked particularly heated debates about his views on women and abortion rights.
He was forced to angrily deny sexually assaulting a woman at a party while he was at school in a series of confirmation hearings that electrified – and divided – much of the US
His confirmation gave the Conservatives a 5-4 majority in the court, which grew further when Catholic anti-abortion advocate Amy Coney Barrett joined in October 2020 following the death of abortion rights champion Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Roe v. Wade was ousted on June 24 and protests have continued ever since.
Congress has since passed legislation to increase security around the nine justices, and Biden signed legislation to extend protections to their families.