The man charged with threatening to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh will go on trial in June 2025, ABC News reported. California resident Nicholas John Roske showed up near Kavanaugh's home with zip ties, a gun, and a knife after the draft decision on the overturning of Roe v. Wade was leaked in 2022.
U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte took the first step in the case Tuesday and set the date for Roske's trial for next year. If convicted, Roske could face life in prison.
Roske was arrested after allegedly showing up near Kavaunaugh's Chevy Chase, Maryland, home after 1 a.m. with what appeared to be ill intent. The then-26-year-old arrived in via taxi wearing dark clothing and carrying the paraphrenia of a would-be assassin.
Jury selection for Roske's trial will begin on June 9, though Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Gavin said the process "in this case could take a little longer" than usual. The trial is supposed to last only about a week.
Roske was arrested after calling 911 on himself, stating that he had suicidal thoughts and was carrying a gun, CNN reported at the time. He told authorities that he traveled from California to kill "a specific United States Supreme Court Justice."
The young man was incensed about the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade as well as the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting that happened in May 2022. He believed that Kavanaugh would reject gun control laws even after the shooting that was later pinned on the failures of the town's police chief in an indictment.
"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," an FBI report said.
Roske planned to break into Kavanaugh's home and commit a murder-suicide. He had a screwdriver, hammer, crowbar, nail punch, duct tape, and a pistol light, along with the other items that suggest he was prepared for several crimes.
This alleged crime came at a time when conservative justices were under additional threat. The news and political coverage of the forthcoming opinion brought protesters to justices' homes, though it seems Roske was the only one to carry out one of these threats.
One aspect of this case that received little attention was Roske's mental state. According to a Fox News report in August 2022, the FBI accessed several online profiles for Roske, and further analysis revealed disturbing evidence.
In his online world, Roske sometimes portrayed himself as a transgender woman named Sophie and sought perverse sexual activity. "I am looking for a Daddy to control my sexual life," one account the FBI linked to him said.
On other platforms like Reddit, Roske shared his "radical" opinions about abortion, including a post in October 2018 where he called himself a "negative utilitarian" who supported forced abortions. His post hints at a deep pain and twisted psyche.
"If abortion were mandatory for pregnant women, no new people would be born, and thus no new people would experience suffering. If no new people are born, humanity will end and thus human suffering will end. I am aware how radical this view is, but I do hold it sincerely," Roske wrote.
Roske thankfully turned himself in before something terrible happened at Kavanaugh's home. However, this alleged crime points to a larger issue surrounding the interplay between the political climate the left created and what it does to people already experience mental health problems.
