NBC News is facing widespread criticism after a social media post referred to the individual who allegedly attempted to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh as a “woman,” prompting a community note on X correcting the claim.
The fact-check referenced NBC’s own earlier coverage identifying the suspect as male.
The controversy began when NBC News shared a post on X announcing the sentencing of Nicholas Roske, who has recently begun identifying as “Sophie.”
The outlet wrote: “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 caption immediately drew backlash for referring to Roske as a woman, despite court records listing Roske’s legal name as Nicholas.
Court documents confirm that Roske, identified in more recent filings as “Sophie Roske,” was sentenced last week to a little more than eight years in federal prison.
Resist the Mainstream previously reported that prosecutors had requested a 30-year sentence, but U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, a Biden appointee, issued a lower sentence of just over eight years.
The court found Roske guilty of attempting to assassinate Justice Kavanaugh outside his Maryland residence in 2022.
NBC News’ accompanying article also used female identifiers in its headline, which read: “Woman sentenced to 8 years for attempting to assassinate Brett Kavanaugh.”
The article mentioned that Roske identifies as transgender but did not note this until the fourth paragraph.
Following publication, users on X accused the outlet of misrepresenting Roske’s biological sex and criticized NBC for what they called misleading reporting.
Within hours, a community note appeared under NBC’s post, pointing out that the outlet had previously referred to Roske as a man in multiple earlier reports.
The fact-check cited two prior NBC News stories.
The first, published in April 2025, carried the headline: “Man who had gun and knife will plead guilty to trying to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh.”
The second, from June 2022, was titled: “Man with a gun outside Kavanaugh’s home told 911, ‘I need psychiatric help.’”
Both reports referred to Roske as a male suspect.
Critics noted that the sudden change in language coincided with reports that Roske had begun identifying as “Sophie” during court proceedings earlier in 2025.
However, prosecutors continued to file legal motions under Roske’s male name, and law enforcement records have consistently listed him as Nicholas Roske.
Roske was arrested in June 2022 after calling 911 on himself near Justice Kavanaugh’s Maryland home.
Authorities reported that he was armed with a firearm, ammunition, a knife and other equipment when taken into custody.
Roske told police he had traveled from California to Maryland with the intent to kill Justice Kavanaugh, according to court documents.
During questioning, Roske said he was upset about the Supreme Court’s anticipated decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and feared that Kavanaugh would vote to restrict abortion rights.
He also expressed concerns about gun control and the safety of schoolchildren following a mass shooting in Texas.
