Grand jury indicts man accused of trying to assassinate Brett Kavanaugh

The man accused of trying to assassinate Brett Kavanaugh at the US supreme court justice’s home in Maryland last week is facing a possible life sentence after a federal grand jury indicted him on Wednesday.

Nicholas John Roske, 26, faces one count of attempting to murder an associate justice of the supreme court, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

The maximum penalty for anyone found guilty of that crime is life imprisonment, though it’s rare for federal convicts to face the stiffest punishments possible.

Prosecutors on Wednesday said they have also moved to seize from Roske weapons and ammunition discovered on him at the time of his arrest near Kavanaugh’s home in Chevy Chase, Maryland. They include a Glock pistol, two magazines with 10 rounds each, pepper spray, a tactical knife and burglary tools, according to a court filing Wednesday.

Federal agents allege that Roske traveled from his home in Simi Valley, California, to Maryland to kill Kavanaugh because a leaked draft opinion on 2 May showed the supreme court judge and other of his fellow conservatives had provisionally voted to overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established the nationwide right to abortion.

Roske called the Montgomery county, Maryland, emergency communications center on 8 June and confessed his plans before carrying them out, agents have alleged. He was arrested and also told investigators that he was upset with Kavanaugh because he believed the judge would loosen gun laws at a time when there has been a recent spate of deadly mass shootings,

including at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas.

Between Roske’s arrest and indictment, the US House gave final approval to a bill expanding security around supreme court justices and their loved ones after the leak of the draft abortion opinion ignited protests nationwide.

The legislation cleared the Senate on 9 May and on Tuesday passed the House by a vote of 396-27.

Joe Biden has said he intends to sign the legislation into law once it is brought to his desk, with his press secretary adding in a statement that the president “condemns the actions [of Roske] in the strongest terms.”

“Any threats of violence or attempts to intimidate justices have no place in our society,” the press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, also said.