Kavanaugh suspect said he wanted to kill more Supreme Court justices, officials say

CORRECTION: The FBI pointed to a conversation Nicholas Roske had on Discord to back up its affidavit in support of a search warrant. A previous version of this story included incorrect information.

Authorities say the 26-year-old man who wanted to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh before he turned himself in had expressed a desire to kill at least two more justices.

According to an FBI affidavit in support of a search warrant initially obtained by NewsNation, Nicholas Roske was meticulously plotting how to kill the justices, including web searches on “how to be stealthy,” where an “effective place to stab someone” would be and what the “quietest semi-auto rifle” was.

During a conversation on Discord, according to the affidavit, Roske told other users that he wanted to stop the Supreme Court from overturning Roe v. Wade by removing justices, officials say.

“I could get at least one, which would change the votes for decades to come, and I am shooting for three,” he wrote in one message on Discord, according to the search warrant.

Roske, of Simi Valley, Calif., was arrested outside Kavanaugh’s home in Chevy Chase, Md., on June 8. He was in possession of a gun, a knife and zip ties.

He allegedly arrived at the justice’s home wearing all black around 1 a.m.

Roske turned around when he saw U.S. Marshals positioned outside and called the county police on himself.

During the call, he confessed he was upset about the leaked draft opinion showing that the Supreme Court was prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade and the nearly 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion, which it would indeed do a couple weeks later.

Roske was also upset about the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman shot and killed 19 children and two adults. He believed Kavanaugh would vote to loosen gun laws.

A grand jury in Greenbelt, Md., indicted Roske on one count of attempting to kill a Supreme Court justice, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Roske has pleaded not guilty, according to The Associated Press. His trial is set for Aug. 23.

This story was updated at 11:56 a.m.