'Absolutely reprehensible': US judge sentences Kavanaugh's attempted assassin; California woman gets eight years in prison

A California resident who admitted attempting to assassinate US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022 was sentenced on Friday to eight years and one month in federal prison.

Sophie Roske, (birth name Nicholas Roske) appeared before US district judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Judge Boardman described Roske’s crime as “absolutely reprehensible” but noted that she had shown sincere remorse, has no prior criminal history, and is unlikely to reoffend. Roske, 26 at the time of her arrest, pleaded guilty in April to attempted assassination and had faced the possibility of life imprisonment.

Prosecutors revealed that Roske had travelled from California carrying a handgun, ammunition, a crowbar, pepper spray, and other items with the intent to commit murder “for terroristic purposes.” At Kavanaugh’s residence, she called the police after seeing US Marshals outside, telling the dispatcher she was suicidal and intended to kill the justice, according to court filings.

Authorities said Roske’s actions were driven by frustration over expected Supreme Court rulings that would overturn the national right to abortion and roll back gun regulations. At the sentencing hearing, Roske apologised to Kavanaugh and his family for “the considerable distress” she caused, adding, “I have been portrayed as a monster, and this tragic mistake I made will follow me for the rest of my life.”

Prosecutors had sought a prison term of at least 30 years, emphasising that Roske had meticulously planned her attack for months and was determined to find the addresses of four unidentified sitting Supreme Court justices. “The defendant posed a very real threat to our system of government, our constitution,” Assistant US attorney Coreen Mao said. “No public official should live in fear of being killed at any moment for doing their job.”

Roske’s lawyers had requested a sentence not exceeding 96 months, highlighting her cooperation with authorities and her decision to call 911 to surrender. They argued, “Roske should be sentenced for what she did, not for what she thought about.”