NBC News recently became the center of a controversy following a social media post that referred to Nicholas Roske, the individual convicted of attempting to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, as a “woman.” This post sparked widespread criticism and has led to a fact-check which references NBC's own prior reports identifying Roske as male.
The dispute arose when NBC News published an update regarding the sentencing of Nicholas Roske, who has recently started identifying as “Sophie.” The outlet's post stated: “A woman who pleaded guilty to attempting to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh three years ago was sentenced to more than eight years in prison.” The content immediately faced backlash for labeling Roske as a woman, contradicting court records that list Roske’s legal name as Nicholas.
Court documents verify that Roske, mentioned in more recent filings as “Sophie Roske,” received a sentence last week of just over eight years in federal prison. The prosecution had initially proposed a 30-year sentence, but U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, appointed by President Biden, settled on the lesser term. Roske was found guilty of planning to assassinate Justice Kavanaugh outside his Maryland home in 2022.
Furthermore, NBC News' associated article also adopted female pronouns in its headline, which read: “Woman sentenced to 8 years for attempting to assassinate Brett Kavanaugh.” The article did acknowledge Roske's transgender identity but delayed this information until the fourth paragraph. Subsequent reactions on social media platforms accused the network of misrepresenting Roske’s biological sex and engaging in what was perceived as misleading journalism.
In a matter of hours, a community note surfaced beneath NBC’s post, highlighting the inconsistency with the network's previous articles referring to Roske as a man. The fact-check cited two earlier NBC News stories from April 2025 and June 2022, both describing Roske as a male suspect.
Critics have observed that the shift in terminology aligns with reports of Roske identifying as “Sophie” during court proceedings earlier in the year. However, legal motions from the prosecutors and law enforcement records have consistently identified him as Nicholas Roske.
Roske was apprehended in June 2022 after dialing 911 on himself close to Justice Kavanaugh’s residence in Maryland. He was found armed with a gun, ammunition, a knife, and additional equipment. Roske confessed to traveling from California to Maryland with the intent of murdering Justice Kavanaugh, motivated by concerns over the Supreme Court potentially overturning Roe v. Wade, along with issues regarding gun control and schoolchildren's safety following a mass shooting in Texas.
The debate over NBC News' post and the subsequent community fact-check have rekindled discussions on accurate media reporting and the complexities of gender identity in public discourse.
