WASHINGTON (NewsNation) A California man who traveled to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home early Wednesday morning with a gun told a dispatcher he needed psychiatric help, according to 911 calls released Thursday.
In the disturbing calls, Nicholas John Roske said he had been having thoughts about hurting himself and the judge.
“Brett Kavanaugh the supreme court justice,” Roske says in the call.
“And what were you coming to do, just to hurt yourself and him?,” the dispatcher asks.
Roske responded,”Correct”
In a nearly 15-minute call, Roske told the dispatcher he immediately took a cab from the airport to Justice Kavanaugh’s home. He also told the dispatcher he traveled to outside Kavanaugh’s home in a Washington suburb after identifying a picture of the street he lives on from an internet article.
Roske, soft-spoken and shaken, sounded at times like he was crying for help during the call.
“Yes, I was going to kill myself,” Roske says.
“Why did you want to do that?” The dispatcher asks.
Roske responds, “Because I didn’t think I could get away with it. And also for a long time, I’ve been hospitalized multiple times.”
He also told the dispatcher he had a firearm with him, but that it was unloaded and in a locked case.
“He’s got a black suitcase that has a gun in it, and also a backpack. Caller says that he has a firearm with him locked in a case,” a dispatcher says during the call.
The call ended as police arrived. According to an FBI affidavit, Roske was carrying a pistol, two magazines and ammunition, a tactical knife, zip ties and a hammer.
Roske told police he was upset by a leaked draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court is about to overrule Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion case. He also said he was upset over the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, and believed Kavanaugh would vote to loosen gun control laws, the affidavit said.
Roske was charged Wednesday with attempting to murder a U.S. judge – a federal felony that carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison. He made his initial appearance in a federal court in Maryland on Wednesday and was appointed a public defender. During the hearing, he consented to remain in federal custody for now.
Andrew Szekely, a federal public defender who is representing Roske, declined to comment on the case after the hearing. Roske’s next court date was tentatively set for June 22.
