NBC News received a Community Note on X after referring to the trans-identified male who attempted to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh as a “woman” in a social media post.
The correction came from the platform’s users citing NBC’s own earlier reporting that identified the individual as male.
The would-be assassin, legally identified as Nicholas Roske, was sentenced to more than eight years in prison last week.
Court documents also list Roske as “Sophie Roske,” a name he began using while in custody.
Prosecutors had requested a 30-year sentence, but U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, who was appointed by Joe Biden, imposed a sentence of slightly more than eight years.
According to court filings, Roske admitted to traveling to Maryland in June 2022 with a firearm, ammunition, a knife, and burglary tools.
Authorities said he intended to kill Justice Kavanaugh at his home in Montgomery County after the leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion that would eventually overturn Roe v. Wade.
Roske was arrested near Kavanaugh’s residence after calling 911 and telling police, “I need psychiatric help.”
NBC News posted on X following last week’s sentencing, writing, “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 accompanying article on NBC’s website carried the same phrasing, headlined, “Woman sentenced to 8 years for attempting to assassinate Brett Kavanaugh.”
The post immediately drew criticism from social media users who pointed out that Roske is biologically male and was referred to as such in prior coverage.
The backlash prompted a Community Note to appear under NBC’s post, citing the network’s earlier stories about the case.
The note linked to an April 2025 NBC News report titled, “Man who had gun and knife will plead guilty to trying to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh.”
The comparison between the two headlines was highlighted in the note as evidence of the outlet’s inconsistency.
JUST IN: 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. https://t.co/jCMGirHsvw
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 3, 2025
NBC’s previous reporting also aligned with initial police and court documents, which consistently identified Roske as male.
In June 2022, NBC News published another report headlined, “Man with a gun outside Kavanaugh’s home told 911, ‘I need psychiatric help.’” That report outlined Roske’s confession that he had planned to attack the justice before changing his mind and surrendering.
Social media users widely circulated screenshots of NBC’s earlier articles alongside the recent post, pointing out that the network’s shift in language appeared to contradict its own documented reporting.
The Community Notes feature on X, introduced under the platform’s community moderation system, allows users to add context to posts deemed misleading or incomplete.
In this case, the note clarified that Roske is a biological male and that NBC News had previously referred to him as such.
As of Monday, NBC had not amended the headline on its website or issued a public correction. The sentencing, which took place last week in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, closes a case that drew nationwide attention when it first broke in 2022 amid heightened security concerns surrounding Supreme Court justices.
Court records show that Roske pleaded guilty in 2023 to attempting to assassinate a U.S. judge.
Prosecutors cited the seriousness of the crime and Roske’s stated intent when recommending a longer prison term.
Judge Boardman’s decision to issue a reduced sentence has also generated renewed debate over how politically motivated threats against public officials are handled in federal court.
The NBC News post remains live on X, with the Community Note still visible beneath it.
