The man who pleaded guilty to attempting to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh identifies as a transgender woman, according to newly revealed court documents.
In a recent court filing, Nicholas Roske’s defense attorneys call their client “Sophie” and explain in a footnote that they will use female pronouns to refer to him “out of respect.”
“The case is captioned as United States v. Nicholas John Roske,” lawyers for Roske state in the filing, obtained by the Daily Wire. “That name remains Ms. Roske’s legal name, and she has not asked to recaption the case. Out of respect for Ms. Roske, the balance of this pleading and counsel’s in-court argument will refer to her as Sophie and use female pronouns.”
The Justice Department is seeking a 30-year prison sentence for Roske after he pled guilty in April to attempting to assassinate Kavanaugh in spring 2022. Law enforcement arrested Roske outside Kavanaugh’s home in June 2022. Roske was carrying a pistol and burglary tools when he was arrested.
“This attempt against the life of a Supreme Court Justice was an attack on the entire judicial system that cannot go unpunished,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.
“This Department of Justice condemns political violence and our prosecutors will ensure that this disturbed individual faces severe consequences for his deranged actions.”
Roske’s attempt on Kavanaugh’s life is one of several high-profile instances of political violence linked to the transgender movement.
Tyler Robinson, the suspect charged with killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, lived with a transgender lover and, according to his family members, had recently become more political, especially on gay and transgender issues. Robinson told his lover that he killed Kirk because his “hate” could not be “negotiated out,” according to text messages authorities disclosed when announcing the charges.
Weeks earlier, transgender gunman Robin Westman killed two children and wounded numerous others in a mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School and its affiliated parish. Westman held anti-Christian views and mused about killing as many children as possible in the attack. The Annunciation Catholic shooting was similar to the 2023 Covenant School shooting where transgender attacker Audrey Hale killed six people at a Christian elementary school in Nashville.
Federal prosecutors filed a sentencing memo Friday detailing Roske’s months-long planning period, during which he found the homes of at least three Supreme Court justices, acquired the necessary weapons for the attack, and traveled across the country to carry it out.
“The defendant researched; planned; procured the tools for the planned killings; traveled across the entirety of the country with those tools, including a gun; and attempted to delete online evidence of motive and intent,” the sentencing memo reads.
“The defendant’s objective — to target and kill judges to seek to alter a court’s ruling — is an abhorrent form of terrorism and strikes at the core of the United States Constitution and our prescribed system of government.”
Roske sought to assassinate Kavanaugh and two other justices because he disagreed with the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to overturn Roe v. Wade and send abortion legalization back to the states. Kavanaugh was one of the conservative justices who ruled in favor of overturning Roe.
The court’s ruling ignited a wave of leftist protests outside the justices homes that were encouraged by Democratic leadership. Politico published the pending decision in May 2022 and afterwards Roske started plotting revenge against Kavanaugh and other Supreme Court justices.
Within a month of the leak, Roske searched for firearms-related terms 90 times, including queries on police response times to gunshots and silencers. In that time period, Roske conducted research on how to shoot like a sniper from long range and how to break into residences. Similarly, Roske researched Kavanaugh and the other justices “extensively,” even looking into their home addresses, the memo explains.
Roske made numerous online statements to users on Discord about what could happen if conservatives lost a justice on the court. He made clear his intention to remove multiple justices and discussed the possibility of a conservative justice being replaced by a liberal. The would-be assassin even searched for videos of mass shootings and serial killers.
Beyond that, Roske researched techniques for strangulation and killing someone quietly. He looked at over 30 websites with information on head and neck anatomy, and viewed graphics showing knives in the body. Simultaneously, Roske bought several tools necessary to carry out the plan and looked at places to go for fleeing prosecution afterwards.