Conservatives pan media coverage of threat to Justice Kavanaugh’s home

Conservative media outlets and some Republicans took to the internet over the weekend to express disappointment with the amount of media coverage given to the arrest of a man near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home last week.

The suspect in the case, identified as 26-year-old California resident Nicholas John Roske, was arrested near Kavanaugh’s residence on Wednesday and charged with attempted murder after he told officials he wanted to kill the justice.

When police arrested Roske, he was found with a number of items, including a Glock 17 pistol with two magazines and ammunition, zip ties, a crow bar and pepper spray, among others. 

Most major media outlets covered news of the arrest as it was breaking Wednesday morning, but coverage eventually dropped off later in the week.

By Sunday, several conservative pundits and Republicans were tweeting outrage about how the focus from media outlets had shifted away from what they characterized as an assassination attempt.

“The mainstream media mob spent all week promoting tonight’s hearing, but largely ignored Biden’s continuing crises and the attempted assassination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh,” said Fox News pundit Sean Hannity.

“BTW… Biden still hasn’t mentioned the assassination attempt against Justice Kavanaugh,” Washington Times columnist Tim Young wrote on Twitter Sunday. The White House issued a statement condemning the threat to Kavanaugh shortly after the news was reported.

“Did anyone talk about the assassination attempt on Justice Kavanaugh at last night’s hearing?” asked Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) in a tweet on Friday morning.

The nation’s news outlets have dedicated hours of coverage in recent days to the first hearing of the House select committee investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The committee’s second hearing, which several news networks have said they plan to cover live, is slated for Monday morning.