| Brett Kavanaugh assassination plot | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Kavanaugh's Supreme Court portrait | |
| Location | Chevy Chase, Maryland, U.S. |
| Date | June 8, 2022; 3 years ago (2022-06-08) 1:05 a.m. (EST) |
| Target | Brett Kavanaugh |
Attack type | Attempted assassination, attemptedmurder-suicide |
| Deaths | 0 |
| Injured | 0 |
| Perpetrator | Sophie Roske[a] |
| Charges | Attempted murder of a Justice of the United States |
On June 8, 2022, Sophie Roske (then known as Nicholas John Roske) traveled to the home ofBrett Kavanaugh, anassociate justice of the United States Supreme Court, with plans to break into Kavanaugh's home, kill him, and then kill herself.[2] After arriving at Kavanaugh's residence and alerting on-siteU.S. Marshals, Roske called the police on herself and was arrested.
Roske told police she was frustrated with theleaked Supreme Court decision that was poised to overruleRoe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that guaranteed abortion as a right, as well as arecent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and the possibility of the Court loosening gun restrictions under theSecond Amendment.
On October 3, 2025, Roske was sentenced to over eight years in prison, as well as a lifetime ofsupervised release.
Roske traveled by plane from her residence inSimi Valley, California, to theWashington, D.C., area. She then took a taxi cab to Kavanaugh's home inChevy Chase, Maryland, arriving at 1:05 a.m. on June 8, 2022.[3][4] She was wearing black clothing and was carrying a suitcase, a backpack, and several items and weapons: aGlock-17 pistol with ammunition, zip ties, atactical knife,pepper spray, a hammer, a screwdriver, anail punch, a crowbar, duct tape, a pistol light, and boots padded to be stealthy.[3][5][6] Upon Roske's arrival, two deputyU.S. Marshals stationed outside Kavanaugh's home saw her step out of the cab.[3]
After arriving and seeing the deputy U.S. Marshals, Roske started walking down the street.[3] She then texted her sister and explained her intentions; Roske's sister convinced her to call9-1-1.[7] At 1:38 a.m.,[5] Roske called 9-1-1 and was connected withMontgomery County's emergency communications center.[3][5] Roske told the operator that she was having suicidal thoughts, that she was armed, and that she had traveled from California to Maryland "to kill a specific United States Supreme Court justice".[3] She also said, "I'm standing now, but I can sit, whatever. I want to be fully compliant."[5] When police arrived, Roske was still on the phone with the communications center, and she was arrested without incident.[3][5]
Sophie Roske (then known asNicholas John Roske),[8][9] fromSimi Valley, California, was 26 years old at the time of the assassination attempt.[3][10] In September 2025, Roskecame out as atrans woman.[11]
After her arrest, Roske told police she was upset about the leaked draft ofDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which signaled the Court was positioned to overruleRoe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that declaredabortion aConstitutional right. She also cited arecent school shooting in Texas and her belief that Kavanaugh would loosen gun restrictions.[12] On internet chats, Roske wrote, "Im [sic] gonna stop roe v wade from being overturned" and that she was going to "remove some people from the supreme court".[citation needed] It was later revealed that Roske had spoken of killing two other conservative Supreme Court justices.[7]
Roske's indictment revealed that her intention was to kill three conservative Supreme Court justices so that three liberal Supreme Court justices could be appointed and change the dynamics of the Supreme Court "for decades to come".[13]
Roske has been held by authorities since her arrest on June 8, 2022.[14] A federal grand jury indicted Roske of attempted murder of a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.[15] On March 18, 2023, Roske's attorneys requested more time to coordinate her defense, which was granted by JudgePeter Messitte.[16] On July 22, 2023, Roske pleaded not guilty to the charges,[17] and a trial date was set for June 9, 2025.[18] However, on April 8, 2025, Roske changed her plea to guilty.[19] Roske came out as a trans woman in September 2025, choosing the name Sophie for court communication purposes, though her legal name remains unchanged.[11] On October 3, 2025, JudgeDeborah Boardman sentenced Roske to 97 months in prison and a lifetime ofsupervised release.U.S. Attorney GeneralPam Bondi said the Justice Department would beappealing Roske's prison sentence, which she called "woefully insufficient".[20]