Federal authorities have charged a man with attempted murder after he was arrested outside the home of a Supreme Court justice in the early hours of Wednesday.
The Supreme Court nominee appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Department of Justice said in a press release that a California native was charged with attempted murder of a United States judge.
The DOJ didn't specify which Supreme Court justice's home he was spotted near, but a spokesman for the high court told Forbes that an armed man was arrested outside of the justice's home.
After arriving at the justice's home with a suitcase and backpack, he called emergency services in Montgomery County and said he was going to kill a justice.
In an affidavit, the FBI said that Roske told police that he was upset about the leak of the Supreme Court draft decision regarding the right to abortion, and that he was also worried about the high court relaxing gun control laws.
A pistol, pepper spray, zip ties, a crow bar, and several tools were found in the suitcase and backpack of the man.
An attorney was not listed in the court records for the initial appearance.
The members of the Supreme Court faced a lot of public pressure after a draft decision was leaked. Protesters gathered outside the homes of conservative judges last month in a series of largely peaceful events that some critics said were intimidating and intrusive. The demonstrators may have violated a federal law that prohibits attempts to influence judges by being near their homes, according to critics. The Supreme Court building and justices have been the subject of online threats.
The Attorney General ordered the marshals service to provide security at the Supreme Court justices homes. The Senate passed a bill last month to increase security for justices' families, but the bill is currently held up in the House.
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