Brett Kavanaugh - live: Nicholas Roske in court for attempted murder of Supreme Court Justice over Roe v Wade
Suspect expected in court hearing on Wednesday afternoon
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Your support makes all the difference.An armed man has been arrested near the Maryland home of US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, officials have confirmed to The Independent.
Police said the individual, named as Nicholas John Roske, 26, was “armed with at least one weapon and burglary tools,” and had threatened to kill the high court judge.
The California man reportedly targeted the Trump-appointed justice because he was upset about the potential overturning of the 1973 Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision. The landmark precedent guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion access.
He also reportedly told police he was disturbed by the recent massacre of 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
The 26-year-old called 911 saying he had “suicidal thoughts” and plans to kill Mr Kavanaugh, remaining on the line with emergency response personnel until he was arrested near Justice Kavanaugh’s home in Chevy Chase.
He’s expected in federal court in Maryland at 3pm ET.
Follow for live updates and highlights from The Independent
Clip of Chuck Schumer saying Kavanaugh will ‘pay the price’ resurfaces after threat against Supreme Court justice
A clip of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer saying in 2020 that Brett Kavanaugh and other conservative justices would “pay the price” if they took away rights like abortion has surfaced, after a man was arrested for a death threat against Mr Kavanaugh.
“I want to tell you [Neil] Gorsuch. I want to tell you Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,” Mr Schumer said in March of 2020 from the Supreme Court steps.
The Senate leader apologised for the remarks the following day from the floor of Congress.
“Now, I should not have used the words I used yesterday. They didn’t come out the way I intended to,” Schumer said Thursday morning. “My point was that there would be political consequences, political consequences for President (Donald) Trump and Senate Republicans if the Supreme Court, with the newly confirmed justices, stripped away a woman’s right to choose.”
“Of course I didn’t intend to suggest anything other than political and public opinion consequences for the Supreme Court, and it is a gross distortion to imply otherwise,” he added. “I’m from Brooklyn. We speak in strong language. I shouldn’t have used the words I did, but in no way was I making a threat. I never, never would do such a thing. And Leader McConnell knows that. And Republicans who are busy manufacturing outrage over these comments know that, too.”
Death threats have dogged Kavanaugh confirmation process
Threats of violence are not new to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
When the conservative jurist was confirmed in 2018, he faced death threats, and so did Christine Blasey Ford, a former classmate who during the confirmation hearings publicly accused Mr Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her.
”She and her family have been forced out of their home,” Ms Ford’s attorney, attorney at the time, Debra Katz, wrote in an email obtained by USA TODAY in 2018. “She wishes to testify, provided that we can agree on terms that are fair and which ensure her safety.”
Mr Kavanaugh’s family, meanwhile, received a barrage of threatening messages at the time as well.
“My condolences to you for being married to a rapist. Although you probably deserve it,” one person wrote in an email obtained by CNN.
Potential Roe decision eroding US trust in democracy, history says
Historian Jon Meacham said the leaked draft Supreme Court opinion moving to overturn Roe v Wade and the federal right to abortion in all of the US strikes at Americans’ trust in democracy.
Mr Meacham said that “the crisis of trust in institutions has just become universal in a way that is pretty much the nightmare scenario, if you believe in the ultimate efficacy of the constitutional order to produce a more perfect union, right?”
“To protect the Jeffersonian assertion of equality, to protect the rule of law, for all its imperfections,” he added. “The system has been worth defending for 250 years. Right now, if this draft decision, if the court were to go this far, you will have, as you were just saying, an extraordinary number of Americans believing that the system, in fact, cannot, is not capable of delivering justice, is not capable of reflecting the popular will, even through the constitutional prism.”
Man who threatened Kavanaugh had pistol, tactical gear
Nicholas John Roske, a 26-year-old from California who allegedly threatened to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his home in Maryland on Wednesday morning, was heavily armed, according to police.
He was found with a Glock 17 pistol, tactical knife, two magazines of ammunition, pepper spray, zip ties, and a variety of burglary tools, according to a police affidavit.
Court date for Nicholas John Roske set for late June
Nicholas John Roske will be back in court in late June for attempted murder charges, after he was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly threatening to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The next hearing in the case will take place on 22 June, according to officials.
‘People should be terrified’: What the Supreme Court could come for after Roe v Wade
The gunman who allegedly threatened Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Wednesday morning told police he was mad that the high court might strike down abortion rights this term.
Here’s a look from Io Dodds at where the court sits on abortion, and the other rights that could face the chopping block.
‘People should be terrified’: What the Supreme Court could come for after Roe v Wade
As the Supreme Court’s new conservative majority prepares to strike down abortion rights, experts say its legal logic could also endanger gay marriage, transgender healthcare and even the right to gay sex, writes Io Dodds
Homeland Security warned of ‘significant” spike in threats after Roe reversal
About a month before an armed gunman threated Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh for his views on abortion, the Department of Homeland Security warned in an intelligence briefing of a “significant increase in violent threats” against the justices, given the likely overturning of Roe v Wade.
“The volume of violent threats targeting Supreme Court Justices, members of Congress, other public officials, clergy, healthcare officials and providers, and others associated with the abortion debate are likely to persist and may increase leading up to and following the issuing of the Court’s official ruling,” the bulletin read.
The long, violent history of anti-abortion protesters
In recent decades, abortion has become one of the most divisive issues in American political life.
Wednesday’s threat against Justice Brett Kavanaugh isn’t the first such violence directed towards a high court judge over their stance on abortion.
Justice Harry Blackmun, who the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in Roe V Wade in 1973, was the frequent subject of death threats for years after the case.
In on instance from 1985, someone fired a bullet through his family’s apartment in Arlington, Virginia.
Those in the anti-abortion movement continue to harass patients and doctors alike, as well as make baseless claims about abortion providers.
Recently, a prominent anti-abortion advocate claimed that Washington DC’s electricity comes from incinerated fetal remains.
Nicholas John Roske planned to kill Kavanaugh then himself
Nicholas John Roske, a 26-year-old from California, allegedly planned to kill Brett Kavanaugh then himself, according to police.
The Simi Valley native was arrested on Wednesday after dialing 911 and describing his plans.
He was taken into custody without incident, and told police he was thinking “about how to give his life a purpose” after being arrested.
He’s been charged with attempted murder.
Mitch McConnell under fire for differing response to Kavanaugh plot and Uvalde shooting
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a stern condemnation of an apparent attempt by a man to harm Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Wednesday, but his remarks drew criticism from those who questioned where that same fervor was for protecting Americans from gun violence.
Mr Kavanaugh, one of the Supreme Court’s newest and most controversial members, was revealed by law enforcement to have been the target of a murder plot after a man was arrested near the justice’s Maryland home just before 2am on Wednesday.
The man was charged on Wendesday just hours after being arrested near the judge’s home with several weapons, including a firearm. He allegedly phoned authorities before his arrest and stated his intention to kill a Supreme Court justice.
The Senate’s top Republican responded to that news on Wednesday by condemning Democrats in the House for holding up a bipartisan Senate-passed bill that would boost security around Supreme Court justices’ place of living.
John Bowden has the story.
McConnell under fire for differing response to Kavanaugh plot and Uvalde shooting
Republicans face accusations of hypocrisy for not treating gun violence with urgency
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