A California man is set to plead guilty to the attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“We write to inform the Court that Mr. Roske wishes to plead guilty to the one-count Indictment pending against him,” a letter from Nicholas Roske to a judge reads. “Attached to this letter is a letter signed by Mr. Roske and counsel outlining, among other things, the offense to which he will plead guilty; the penalties and elements for that offense; and a factual basis in support of the guilty plea.”
While a trial was scheduled for June 9, the letter says the “parties are available Monday, April 7, 2025, until 2pm for the guiltyplea hearing. If the Court is unavailable for the hearing on April 7, the parties ask that the April 8, 2025, pretrial motions hearing be converted to a Rearraignment/Rule 11 hearing.”
Roske currently faces up to life in prison.
Roske, who traveled from California to Justice Kavanaugh’s Maryland home in June 2022, was motivated by anger over the Supreme Court’s decisions on abortion and gun rights, following the leak of the draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. At the time, Roske was armed with a gun and knife, was carrying zip ties, and was dressed in black, the Associated Press reported.
In January, Roske sought to suppress statements made to authorities and evidence collected during his arrest. “While federal agents advised Mr. Roske of his rights and obtained his signature on a rights-waiver form, this waiver was not made voluntarily and intelligently. At the time, Mr. Roske was acutely suicidal, visibly exhausted, and had repeatedly expressed his need for psychiatric care,” the filing stated.
