UPDATE: What we know about suspect in arson at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence.
The man charged in connection with an arson at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home over the weekend allegedly climbed the residence’s fence, used a hammer to break a window and threw Molotov cocktails in to start the blaze, prosecutors revealed.
Cody A. Balmer, 38, was charged with attempted criminal homicide, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism and other counts in connection with the early Sunday morning attack, the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.
The arson attack lasted for several minutes. Shapiro and first lady Lori Shapiro, as well as other guests and staff, were inside the Harrisburg residence when the fire erupted around 2 a.m. No one was injured in the fire, and the governor’s family was safely evacuated. However, prosecutors said the residence sustained “substantial damage.”
Balmer, of Harrisburg, turned himself into the Pennsylvania State Police on Sunday and admitted to “harboring hatred towards Governor Shapiro.”
When asked during a police interview what he would have done if Shapiro found him inside the residence, “he advised he would have beaten him with his hammer,” the probable cause affidavit said
The NBC News report played up Balmer’s anti-Biden sentiments but there’s more to the story.
A man named Cody Balmer has been charged with terrorism, attempted murder, aggravated arson and aggravated assault over the April 13 family home arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. @JoshShapiroPA.
Local authorities have not released a photo of Balmer but I found and verified… pic.twitter.com/IIPVtsbQNK
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) April 14, 2025
He certainly at least looks more Antifa than MAGA.