Man Accused of Trying to Assassinate Brett Kavanaugh Receives Trial Date

A trial date has been set for a man that is accused of attempting to assassinate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
On Tuesday, the Associated Press (AP) reported that U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte scheduled a trial for Nicholas John Roske to begin in June 2025. The hearing this week for Roske, who is accused of attempting to kill Kavanaugh, is the first hearing in the case in almost two years.
In June 2022, Roske, a California resident, was arrested near Kavanaugh’s home in Maryland. At the time of his arrest, Roske was found to be in possession of a firearm, a knife and zip ties. Roske was reportedly dressed in all black clothing when he arrived to the area near Kavanaugh’s home at around 1 a.m. local time. Roske was 26 at the time of his arrest, federal authorities said.
Following his arrest, Roske pleaded not guilty to the charge of attempting to murder a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, a crime which carries a life-time prison sentence.
An FBI agents arrest affidavit, obtained by the AP, showed that Roske told authorities that he was angered at Kavanaugh over the leaked opinion on the Roe v. Wade decision.
In May 2022, Politico obtained a leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court justices that was later confirmed by the court to be authentic. That leak showed a majority of justices were poised to strike down Roe v. Wade after hearing arguments on a Mississippi law that was a direct challenge to the landmark abortion rights case.
The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade, which protected a pregnant woman’s right to choose to have an abortion.
In online writings obtained by the FBI, Roske said that murdering a Supreme Court justice could possibly force the court to change their stance “for decades to come.”
“I am shooting for three,” Roske added in his online post, authorities said.
The affidavit also showed that Roske expressed concern over the possible changing of gun laws following the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Roske was arrested after calling 911 and informing a dispatcher that he was near Justice Kavanaugh’s home and intended to take his own life. He was spotted by two U.S. marshals assigned to the 24-hour security detail protecting the justices.
On Tuesday, Roske appeared in a Baltimore court for his trial scheduling date. He did not speak during the entirety of the hearing, which lasted around 20 minutes.
During the hearing on Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Gavin said that “selecting a jury in this case may take a little longer.”
One of Roske’s attorneys, Andrew Szekely, also said in court on Tuesday that they do not plan on requesting a mental health evaluation by the court.