Nicholas John Roske pleads not guilty to attempting to assassinate Justice Kavanaugh 

The man accused of attempting to assassinate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh pleaded not guilty on Wednesday. 

Nicholas John Roske, 26, of Simi Valley, California, was arrested outside Kavanaugh’s home in Maryland earlier this month armed with a gun, knife and burglary tools. 

During his arraignment on Wednesday at the Southern Division Courthouse, in Greenbelt, Maryland, Roske pleaded not guilty. 

His trial is set to begin on August 23, and if convicted, Roske faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.  

Nicholas John Roske, 26, (left) pleaded not guilty on Wednesday after being arrested earlier this month for allegedly trying to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (right)

An FBI affidavit states that Roske told investigators that he was looking to kill Kavanaugh and himself on June 8. FBI agents are seen inside Roske’s Simi Valley, California, earlier this month

According to an FBI affidavit, Roske had flown from California to Washington and was spotted arriving at Kavanaugh’s home in the middle of the night on June 8, CBS reported. 

He was carrying a suitcase armed with a Glock-17 pistol, two magazine clips, a speed loader, a tactical knife, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, screwdriver, nail punch and a crowbar. 

Shortly after arriving on the scene, however, police said he called 911 saying he was having suicidal thoughts, telling the operator that he was going to kill Kavanaugh and then himself because he did not expect to get away with the crime. 

Roske was quickly taken into custody following the call and allegedly confessed to investigators that he was upset about the leaked Supreme Court draft decision indicating that Kavanaugh and his fellow conservative justices were poised to overturn Roe V. Wade and women’s federal right to abortions. 

Investigators added that Roske told them that he believed Kavanaugh would loosen gun laws in the country in the wake of the deadly Uvalde, Texas, school shooting. 

‘Roske stated that he began thinking about how to give his life a purpose and decided that he would kill the Supreme Court Justice,’ according to the affidavit.

Roske (above) allegedly told detectives that he was upset about the leak of a recent Supreme Court draft decision regarding the right to abortion as well as the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and planned to give his life to stop Kavanaughs’ votes

Roske was arrested on a street nearby Kavanaugh’s Maryland home (pictured), where security has been reinforced following the incident

Protesters returned to Kavanaugh’s Maryland home just hours after Roske was arrested while carrying a disturbing arsenal of weapons and equipment

A woman holding a ‘liar’ sign with Kavanaugh’s face on it and another saying ‘mind your own uterus’ walk outside his home on Wednesday night 

This is a developing story.