Would-be Kavanaugh assassin wanted to change court’s Roe decision

In 2022, armed would-be assassin Nicholas Roske was arrested outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, for plotting to kill the justice. Now new details are coming to light about his plan to assassinate Kavanaugh, including his motive: to prevent the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

The failed assassination attempt took place after a draft opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was leaked in May of 2022, indicating that the Supreme Court planned to overturn Roe. Late last week, The Washington Post reported new details about Roske’s plan to assassinate Kavanaugh — including the fact that upon his arrest, a Glock pistol, a tactical knife, two magazines of ammunition, pepper spray, a hammer, a screwdriver, a crowbar, and duct tape were found in his suitcase. Roske told police his plans were to break into Kavanaugh’s home, murder him, and then commit suicide.

“I was under the delusion that I could make the world a better place by killing him,” he said.

DISTURBING: New federal court filing confirms that, as feared, the illicit (and “unsolved”) leak of the Supreme Court abortion draft ruling inspired assassination attempt on Justice Kavanaugh. Defendant Nicholas Roske told local police and FBI he planned to break into Kavanaugh’s… pic.twitter.com/lWWHsRSevU

— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) January 5, 2025

As he was proceeding towards Kavanaugh’s home with the suitcase, Roske texted his sister to tell her that he loved her. But he ultimately abandoned his plan to kill Kavanaugh after spotting Kavanaugh’s security detail and receiving a call from his sister, who told him to call 911 and turn himself in when she heard his plan. Roske followed his sister’s advice.

“She wanted to have me as a sibling for the rest of her life and not, you know, with that ending,” he said.

Online messages from Roske said that he also thought of killing more than one of the justices. In one message, he wrote, “Im gonna stop roe v wade from being overturned … I could get at least one, which would change the votes for decades to come, and I am shooting for 3.”

Roske said he had been suicidal for a long time, and the leaked draft opinion seemed to push him over the edge.

Plea negotiations failed last summer; therefore, the case will now go to trial, though a judge said Roske will have to undergo a mental health evaluation to determine whether he is fit to stand trial.

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by Live Action News.]