A woman in California who tried to murder the Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022, has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison.
Judge Deborah Boardman sentenced Sophie Roske to 97 months in prison Friday afternoon in Greenbelt, Maryland. The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to the murder attempt in April.
“I sincerely apologize for justice and his family,” Roske said to court, adding that “this tragic mistake will follow me for the rest of my life,” according to CNN.
Roske traveled from California to Kavanaugh’s home in Maryland on June 8, 2022 with a plan to murder him, according to the Ministry of Justice. American Marshals, who protected Kavanaugh’s home, discovered Roske who came out of a taxi and walked down the street.
Shortly after, Roske Rang 911 and told the operator she traveled to the state with a gun to kill a Supreme Court. At the time of the incident, she became known as Nicholas Roske.
Investigators later found a gun in Roske’s suitcase along with several other objects, including a knife, ammunition, zipper and pepper spray.
When he was interviewed by police, Roske said she was upset with a “recently leaked Supreme Court’s draft decision on abortion as well as the recent school shooting in UVALE, Texas,” the Ministry of Justice said. One month before, Politico had published a leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobb against Jacksonthat overturned the constitutional right to an abortion created in 1973 in ROE V WADE.
Prosecutors asked the judge to judge Roske to at least 30 years. They also argued that the verdict should serve to deter others, referring to a letter that Kavanaugh received in April, saying he “should die” from a shot and refer to Roske, reports CNN. Meanwhile, the defense asked for 96 months.
The prosecutor’s request was “not reasonable,” Boardman said in court. She quoted Roske’s decision to tell the authorities about her plan as well as her mental health struggles, according to CNN. Roske struggled with depression for years and had tried suicide in the past, according to her defense attorneys.
“If she hadn’t called 911, law enforcement would have never known about Sophie Roske and her plot to kill a Supreme Court,” Boardman said.
Boardman also quoted President Donald Trump’s executive order from January 20, which says trans -fun inmates should be jailed in prisons equivalent to the sex they were awarded at birth, ABC News reports. Roske’s lawyers revealed in September that she is transgender.
Boardman continued to acknowledge the “real injury caused by Justice Kavanaugh and his family,” adding that they “should never have a fear of threat because he is doing his job.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said prosecutors will appeal to the “sad inadequate” judgment and argues that it “does not reflect the horrible facts in this case.”
“The attempt at assault on the Supreme Court’s righteousness Brett Kavanaugh was a disgusting attack against our entire legal system of a deeply disturbed individual,” Bondi said in a statement.
If you or someone you know need mental health assistance right now, call or SMS 988 or visit 988lifeline.org To access online chat from 988 suicide and crisis life line. This is a free, confidential crisis -hotline available for all 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in the UK, you can talk to the Samaritans, in trust, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), E -mail Jo@ Samaritans.org or Visit Samaritans Website to find details about your nearest branch. If you are in another country you can go to www.befriender.org To find a helmet line near you.