Kavanaugh Assassination Attempt Just a 'Local Crime,' According to Washington Post

Since when is an attack against the federal judiciary, which is under investigation by federal law enforcement officials, considered a "local crime"?

Since the Washington Post assigned its resident Montgomery County crime reporters to cover it, apparently.

In his piece describing the assassination attempt against Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh, Washington Post Montgomery County crime reporter Dan Morse claims that would-be assassin Nicholas Roske allegedly prowled Kavanaugh's neighborhood in the middle of the night with an intent to hurt himself and others and only dialed 911 and turned himself in when he spotted US Marshals standing outside Kavanaugh's home.

"Once arriving to the Maryland home early Wednesday, Roske spotted two deputy U.S. marshals, part of Kavanaugh’s security detail, standing outside a car, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court," the piece reads. "He walked away, turned a corner and called 911 to turn himself in."

So members of a federal law enforcement agency were standing guard, when a man with murderous intent crossed state lines -- traveled all the way from California, in fact -- and made a serious attempt against the life of a member of the federal judiciary. Seems like a textbook example of a federal crime.

But not according to the Washington Post. Instead, the Post has categorized the incident as a "local crime." Take a look:

Based on this categorization, the incident is no more remarkable than a local break-in or domestic dispute.

The piece itself, however, treats it with much more severity and national significance.

Morse -- with an assist from fellow contributors Katie Mettler and Razzan Nakhlawi -- explains that Roske gave considerable malice aforethought to the crime and that he was directly motivated by the possibility that Kavanaugh and other justices might vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.

"Roske was upset by the leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion, supported by Kavanaugh, signaling that the court is positioned to overturn Roe v. Wade," Morse says. The affidavit also says that Roske feared that Kavanaugh might vote to "loosen gun control laws."

Though Roske turned himself in to authorities before he harmed himself or anyone else, Morse intimates that Roske took too many steps in the criminal process to mitigate the charges.

"All of the actions Roske took, at least according to the FBI affidavit, probably put him over the threshold of 'substantial steps beyond mere preparation' that is generally required to be convicted of attempted murder in federal court," Morse says.

So in sum, a California man flew all the way to Maryland to assassinate a justice of the United States Supreme Court, was thwarted by the presence of US Marshals, and then appeared in federal court. And the Washington Post still calls it "local" news.