The California man accused of plotting to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh had been researching his alleged scheme on the internet, googling things such as “assassin skills,” “how to be stealthy,” and “Reagan assassination attempt,” and was allegedly hoping to eliminate two additional justices, as well.
That’s according to an FBI search warrant application obtained by The Daily Beast, which says Nicholas John Roske, 26, formulated his plan in part by surveying users on Reddit, where he registered his account using the email address “HelenKiller1969@gmail.com.”
Roske was arrested last month by federal agents posted outside Kavanaugh’s Maryland home. A backpack and suitcase he had with him contained, among other things, a black tactical chest rig and tactical knife, a Glock 17 pistol with two magazines and ammunition, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, a screwdriver, a nail punch, a crowbar, and duct tape, authorities said.
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Roske, who took a cab to Kavanaugh’s property on June 8, called his sister when he arrived. She then convinced Roske to call 911 and turn himself in, which he did at 1:05 a.m., telling the operator he was “having suicidal and homicidal thoughts,” and that he was planning to kill the 57-year-old conservative justice. After his arrest, Roske told investigators he was “upset about the leak of a recent Supreme Court draft decision regarding the right to abortion as well as the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas,” the warrant says. “Roske indicated that he believed [Kavanaugh] would side with Second Amendment decisions that would loosen gun control laws.”
The filing says Roske claimed he had been thinking about how to “give his life a purpose,” and decided murdering Kavanaugh was the way. He looked up Kavanaugh’s home address online, and said he planned to die by suicide after going through with his plan.
A search of Roske’s internet history turned up a disturbing series of queries prior to his arrest on charges of attempting or threatening to kidnap or murder a U.S. judge, the feds say.
“Between May 5, 2022 and June 8, 2022, the search history on Roske’s cell phone included the following terms or phrases: ‘quietest semi auto rifle,’ ‘Reagan assassination attempt,’ ‘most effective place to stab someone,’ ‘assassin skills,’ ‘assassin equipment,’ ‘assassinations,’ ‘supreme court,’ ‘how to be stealthy,’ [and] ‘gun lubricant,’ … among other things,” the warrant application states.
He also visited the “Current Members” page of the Supreme Court website, as well as the “List of assassinations” page on Wikipedia, and posted questions on Reddit such as, “How difficult is it to covertly take out an HVT?” apparently referring to a “High Value Target,” and “Would Kavanaugh being removed from the SC help women long term?” according to the filing.
Roske posted the “HVT” question in the r/USMC Reddit forum, and received at least one reply, the feds say.
“Roske said that he used his Reddit account to ask individuals, who were unknown to him, questions in order to refine his plan to kill the Justice,” the warrant application states.
In an interview with FBI agents after his arrest, Roske identified a person he said he had recently been communicating with on the messaging app Discord, and said the two had “discussed the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion.” A few days later, agents interviewed Roske’s associate, listed only as “Person #1” in the warrant application, who let the FBI review their conversations, which spanned about four weeks before Roske’s arrest.
On May 25, Roske, who had been using the screen name “Sophie42,” allegedly wrote to Person #1, “im gonna stop roe v wade from being overturned”
“what u tryna do” Person #1 responded.
“remove some people from the supreme court,” Roske allegedly replied.
“u gonna Tun? Run?” Person #1 wrote back.
“after you mean?” wrote Roske.
“oh haha good one,” wrote Person #1. “Two dead judges ain’t gonna do nothing The whole government is fucked There’s no fixing that You would die before you killed them all”
The warrant application says Roske then replied, “yeah but I could get at least one, which would change the votes for decades to come, and I am shooting for 3. all of the major decisions for the past 10 years have been along party lines so if there are more liberal than conservative judges, they will have the power”
The filing does not identify the other two justices about whom Roske was allegedly referring.
That same day, the warrant application says Roske received an email from info@smokinbarrelguns.com, reading, “We appreciate you stopping by and checking out our range and training facility. As a thank you, we would like to give you $5 dollars off your next visit.”
Two days later, Roske got an email from an online gun store called Southern Ordnance, confirming his order for a Snap Gun Lock Pick costing $49.95, according to the warrant.
Roske told the FBI that he deleted his Discord account on June 5, three days before showing up at Kavanaugh’s house, and that he had wiped his laptop because he “did not want anyone he conversed with to be implicated as a result of his actions.”
The warrant application, which was filed Tuesday, seeks access to four Gmail accounts Roske used, along with four Reddit accounts and the Discord account. Some of the handles are unusual, such as “roskenicholas@gmail.com.” Others, however, seem to suggest darker themes, including “pyronick7@gmail.com,” the Reddit screen name “AmericanPyro,” and the “helenkiller1969@gmail.com” address Roske used to create his account.
Roske, whose only previous brush with the law was a 2015 traffic infraction, pleaded not guilty on June 22. He remains detained pending trial, and is due back in court on Sept. 6. His court-appointed lawyers, Andrew Szekely and Meghan Michael, did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment on Wednesday.
