Mother and Relatives of Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin Plead for Leniency Because He’s ‘Transgender’
The family of Nicholas Roske — the man who attempted to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022 — is asking a federal judge for leniency in his sentencing, citing his transgender identity and ongoing mental health struggles.
Roske, who now identifies as “Sophie” and uses female pronouns, pleaded guilty earlier this year to plotting Kavanaugh’s murder. His relatives argue that his actions stemmed from being “in the closet” about his gender identity and from untreated mental health issues.
In June 2022, Roske traveled to Kavanaugh’s Maryland home armed with a gun and a plan to kill. However, before carrying out the attack, he called 911 on himself, admitting suicidal thoughts and expressing regret. He later told investigators that he had forgotten “judges and politicians making policy are real people too.”
Roske’s mother wrote in a character reference that her child’s struggles deepened during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he abandoned therapy and medication and began questioning his gender. She described those years as the time “several of the pieces of the puzzle started coming together.”
NOW: Sentencing underway for Nicholas Roske, the 29-year-old California man who traveled to Maryland in 2022 with the intent to assassinate Brett Kavanaugh.
The judge is referring to the defendant as “Ms. Roske” after his attorneys asked the court to refer to him as “Sophie.” pic.twitter.com/2HVnwoUZ6m
— Kaelan Deese (@KaelanDC) October 3, 2025
In a letter to the court, Roske apologized and said the idea of violence would not have occurred if he had not been suicidal. He also tied his actions to the climate surrounding the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade. “So when Dobbs came around, I was still in the closet and had not been taking medicine or going to therapy for two years,” he wrote. “When the draft leaked, my self-esteem was at rock bottom, along with my hope for the future.”
His sister separately raised concerns that Roske might be placed in a men’s prison with “limited access to gender-affirming care.”
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, a Biden appointee, will determine Roske’s sentence. Boardman has drawn criticism before, including for ruling against parents who sought to opt their children out of LGBTQ-themed storybooks in schools — a decision later overturned by the Supreme Court.
Prosecutors are seeking a 30-year sentence, with the final decision scheduled for Friday.
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