Authorities in Maryland have released 911 call records showing Nicholas Roske, the 26-year-old man charged with attempted murder after allegedly trying to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, called the police on himself before executing his plan.
It was just after 1 a.m. Wednesday when Roske, who is from Simi Valley, California, called the police on himself, saying, “I need psychiatric help.” He had called a cab to the home of Kavanaugh and arrived just one block away from the house before police arrested him. He told the operator that he had shown up to hurt “Brett Kavanaugh … the Supreme Court justice.”
Roske reported having suicidal and homicidal thoughts, as well as an intent to assassinate the sitting Supreme Court justice, according to court records released Thursday.
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Despite traveling thousands of miles via air travel from his home with burglary tools, a gun, and a pair of special boots with outer soles allowing stealth movement inside a house, newly released 911 call records obtained by the Washington Examiner show he promptly abandoned his plans as he approached Kavanaugh’s house.
Roske called 911 twice, though the first call was short as he said he would find a street sign to give his location, then called back.
“I’ve been having them for a long time,” Roske said of the thoughts he’d been having in his second call with an operator. “I’m from California. I came over here to act on them.”
Roske told the operator he intended to hurt someone else and himself. He said, “I brought a firearm with me, but it’s unloaded and locked in the case. … It’s in a suitcase. It’s a black suitcase. … I’m standing near it, but the suitcase is zip-tied shut. I just came from the airport.”
When he arrived at Kavanaugh’s Maryland home early Wednesday, he spotted a pair of deputy U.S. marshals, who were part of the Supreme Court justice’s security force.
Before confessing, Roske walked away from the scene, turned a corner, and called law enforcement to turn himself in. FBI agent Ian Montijo also interviewed Roske early Wednesday after he had confessed his plan to the police.
“I’m standing now, but I can sit, whatever. I want to be fully compliant,” Roske told the 911 dispatcher, according to a copy of the call released Thursday by the Montgomery County Police Department. “So whatever they want me to do, I’ll do.”
Police said they searched the bag and suitcase locked with zip ties that Roske showed up with and found two magazines and ammunition to go along with the suspect’s freshly purchased pistol, a pistol light, a black tactical chest rig, a tactical knife, and pepper spray. He also had on him what seemed to be likely burglary tools, including a hammer, screwdriver, nail punch, crowbar, and hiking boots with padding on the outside of the soles. Roske also had zip ties and duct tape.
Roske told the 911 operator he left his Simi Valley home while his parents were on vacation in Hawaii and brought the arsenal with him in his luggage.
When asked why he planned to hurt himself and Kavanaugh, he said, “I didn’t think I could get away with it.” He also said he has been “hospitalized multiple times” for unspecified reasons.
The Washington Examiner was present in the Greenbelt, Maryland, federal courtroom where Roske made his initial appearance. He was represented by Andrew Szekely, a federal public defender. As of Friday, Meghan Michael is now also an assistant federal public defender on the case.
Roske agreed to remain in custody for now but can attempt to revisit that decision in a future hearing. The U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland announced that Roske had been hit with federal charges of “attempted murder of a Supreme Court Justice.” He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted, as well as up to a $50,000 fine.
Kathleen Gavin, the chief of the national security and cybercrime section at the Maryland U.S. attorney’s office, represented the Justice Department in the hearing in front of Magistrate Judge Timothy Sullivan.
Sullivan asked whether Roske understood the charges against him Wednesday. The defendant spoke briefly with his lawyer and replied, “I think I have a reasonable understanding.” He quickly clarified that he had “a clear enough understanding” of the charges.
Attorney General Merrick Garland responded to Roske’s threat during a Wednesday press briefing regarding the Uvalde, Texas, shooting in which 19 children and two teachers were killed last month by an armed intruder.
“It’s obviously behavior that we will not tolerate. Threats of violence and actual violence against the justices, of course, strike at the heart of our democracy. And we will do everything we can to prevent them and to hold people who do them accountable,” Garland said.
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Roske told investigators he was not only angry about the possibility of the high court overturning Roe v. Wade in a forthcoming decision on the Supreme Court’s docket, but he also believed Kavanaugh would play a role in loosening gun laws in a separate high-profile case that is yet to be decided from this term.
The Washington Examiner made a public records request with the Montgomery County Police Department for the 911 call with Montgomery County Emergency Service, as well as a request for the arrest details, detention information, and suspect interviews.
