Police have arrested a man suspected of setting alight Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home Saturday night, and authorities say he will be charged with attempted murder and terrorism.
Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher Paris later identified the man in custody as Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg.
“We don’t know the person’s specific motive yet,” said a visibly frustrated Shapiro in an emotionally charged press conference. “But we do know a few truths. First, this type of violence is not OK. This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society. I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one party or another, or one person or another, it is not OK. It has to stop. We have to be better than this.”
Dauphin County District Attorney Francis Chardo said the man will be charged with attempted murder, terrorism, attempted arson and aggravated assault.
Shapiro said he and his family were woken up just after 2 a.m. to state police banging on their door after a fire to the governor’s residence in Harrisburg.
The fire broke out overnight on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover, which Shapiro and his family had celebrated at the governor’s official residence in the state capital of Harrisburg. Shapiro had shared a photo of his family’s Seder table just hours prior.
Shapiro said the fire was set in the same room where they had celebrated Passover with a seder with members of Harrisburg’s Jewish community just hours earlier.
The governor’s mansion is monitored by state troopers. Officials said that Balmer hopped over a nearly 7-foot-high (2.1-meter-high) iron security fence, eluding officers, and then entered the home and set it on fire. He was inside the residence for about a minute before he escaped, and had a homemade incendiary device on him. Police later arrested him nearby.
“He clearly had a plan,” Lt. Col. George Bivens, of the state police, told the media. “He was very methodical in his approach, and moved through it without a lot of hurry.”
Crews evacuated the family and no one was injured.
Shapiro and his wife, Lori, have four children, and were in a different part of the residence when the fire was lit.
The fire caused a “significant amount of damage” to a portion of the residence, state police said.
As of Sunday, fire damage is still visible on the residence’s south side, primarily to a large room often used for entertaining crowds and art displays. There was still a police presence as yellow tape cordoned off an alleyway and an officer led a dog outside a iron security fence.
Shapiro, a Democrat, was once considered a front-runner for Kamala Harris’s running mate. The 51-year-old is also an expected contender for the White House in 2028.
Last month, Shapiro joined a coalition of governors and attorneys general suing President Donald Trump’s administration after it cut $12 billion in federal funds for COVID-19 initiatives and various other nationwide public health projects.
Source: independent.co.uk
