Armed Man Arrested Outside Justice Kavanaugh’s Home. Pray for the Justices’ Safety!

A man armed with a gun and burglary tools who made threats against U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has been arrested near the justice’s home.

As reported by The Associated Press, the man (whose identity has yet to be released) was arrested in the early hours of the morning on June 8, at 1:50 a.m. One law enforcement official disclosed the man was from California, in his 20s, and arrived near the justice’s house via taxi, armed with a gun and a knife.

The official allegedly said the man “told law enforcement officers he wanted to kill Kavanaugh.”

AP notes, “He told police he was upset by a leaked draft opinion suggesting the court is about to overrule Roe v. Wade, the court’s landmark abortion case … He was also said to be upset over recent mass shootings, according to the newspaper.”

Now, the man, Nicholas Roske, 26, has been officially charged with attempted murder of a United States Supreme Court Justice.

According to the charging document, following his arrest, Roske told police that he had been “thinking about how to give his life a purpose and decided that he would kill” Justice Kavanaugh, whose address he founded on the internet.

After the May 2nd leak of a draft Supreme Court majority opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, we’ve seen a substantial uptick in protests and harassment of the justices of the nation’s high court, both at the Supreme Court building and outside the justices’ personal residences.

Just two weeks ago, we saw the 4th such protest outside the personal house of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who happens to be a mother of seven children.

Protesters shouted chants like, “pro-life is a lie, you don’t care if people die” and “no privacy for us, no peace for you.”

Regarding Roske’s attempted murder, there are a few things that Christians should take away from this incident.

First, this demonstrates once again why our elected leaders must tone down their rhetoric when it comes to discussing the Supreme Court.

It’s almost always the case that the most heated rhetoric comes when the issue of abortion comes up for discussion.

And when you pause to consider that much of the inflammatory rhetoric comes from elected members of Congress, the situation becomes even more incoherent. Supreme Court justices are not supposed to make law – that’s up to the U.S. Congress.

So why are politicians up in arms with justices? Aren’t the politicians the ones who are tasked with creating laws? The high court’s task is simply to interpret laws that Congress itself is supposed to make.

This highlights the problem with the Supreme Court, which has become a kind of supreme-legislature over the past 50 years, where nine unelected lawyers can enact nationwide policy decisions (think abortion and same-sex marriage legalization) which should have been left up to the purview of Congress or the states.

If politicians are angry with the members of the high court, they can do what they were elected to do and enact a law with the advice and consent of their colleagues.

Second, Congress should seriously consider increasing security for all nine Supreme Court justices and their families.

On May 9, the U.S. Senate unanimously (you can’t say that very often) passed a bill that would expand police protections for the families of Supreme Court justices.

Considering the Senate’s unanimous vote, it’s baffling why the U.S. House of Representatives has yet to vote on the bill.

Third, we must continue to pray for the safety of all nine justices of the Supreme Court, but most especially for the five justices who are most likely to vote to overturn Roe, considering they are likely in the most danger.

It is nearly certain that any decision in the case (Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization) will be 5-4 either one way or the other.

Pray particularly for Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett. Pray also for their families.

Related articles and resources:

Justice Thomas Says Supreme Court Won’t be ‘Bullied’ on Abortion Decision

Protesting at Homes of Supreme Court Justices Isn’t Free Speech, It’s Harassment

Leaked Supreme Court Draft Opinion Suggests Court May Overturn ‘Roe v. Wade’

Photo from Reuters.