A Florida man pleaded guilty to threatening to kill U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts. Neal Sidhwaney, 43, of Fernandina Beach, entered a guilty plea Friday in federal court in Jacksonville, Fla., to a felony count of making an interstate threat to injure, Politico reports.Sidhwaney made the threat twice in a voicemail message left on July 31. Prosecutors did not identify the targeted justice, but during a court-ordered psychological evaluation, Sidhwaney said he had threatened Roberts. In the voicemail, Sidhwaney introduced himself and he had a message that he wanted the U.S. Marshals to deliver to Roberts that included “I will fucking kill you.”
Sidhwaney was arrested in August and has been in custody since. A psychologist found him competent to stand trial and of “superior” intelligence, but suffering from “delusional disorder with psychosis.” He’s under treatment with an anti-psychotic drug. Court filings don’t indicate what, if any, action by the high court prompted the threat. Security around the high court and the justices has been stepped up since last year, when the high-profile abortion decision prompted a surge in threats. A California man, Nicholas Roske, was discovered outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Maryland home in June 2022. He has pleaded not guilty to attempting to assassinate the judge and is being held pending trial.