Pennsylvania authorities have arrested a suspect linked to the arson attack that burned a portion of Governor Josh Shapiro’s official residence in Harrisburg.
A 38-year-old man named Cody Balmer, who lives in the state capital, was arrested hours after committing the criminal offense. The suspect is facing charges of attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson, aggravated assault, and other offenses related to the fire. Pennsylvania State Police is leading the investigation.
The suspect planned on beating Shapiro with a hammer if he found him, according to court documents filed Monday. Balmer used gasoline from a lawn mower and two Heineken bottles to create homemade Molotov cocktails to carry out the arson attack. To start the fire, he jumped the fence around Shapiro’s home and used a hammer to break two windows and throw the Molotov cocktails inside.
The incident occurred around 2 a.m. Sunday morning, when Shapiro and his family were safely evacuated by Pennsylvania State Police. No one was injured in the arson attack and the fire was successfully extinguished, the Democratic governor said.
“Every day, we stand with the law enforcement and first responders who run towards danger to protect our communities,” Shapiro posted on Facebook in a message of thanks for police and firefighters. “Last night, they did so for our family — and Lori and I are eternally grateful to them for keeping us safe.”
The overnight attack came at the start of Passover. Hours before the fire, the Pennsylvania governor posted on social media that he was celebrating the Jewish holiday with his family.
Shapiro appeared emotional as he spoke about the suspect’s possible motive during a press conference.
“If he was trying to terrorize our family, our friends, the Jewish community, who joined us for a Passover Seder in that room last night, hear me on this: We celebrated our faith last night, proudly and in a few hours, we will celebrate our second Seder of Passover,” he said.
Elected governor in 2022, Shapiro has been a strong critic of the antisemitic campus protests that have engulfed American universities and colleges since Hamas’s attack against Israel on October 7, 2023. While he is generally supportive of Israel’s war against the terrorist group, Shapiro has been critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom the Jewish Democrat views as an obstacle to a two-state solution that would allow Palestinians and Israelis to live in peace.
“We can’t forget the genesis of this,” he told the Washington Post in March 2024, referring to Hamas’s massacre of 1,200 Israelis. “But we also can’t ignore the death and the destruction that’s occurred in Gaza. For those who are peacefully protesting, I support their right to do that and I’ll defend that, and I want to make sure they feel heard. And I think in Pennsylvania, they do feel heard.”
Shapiro received national attention last year when his name was floated as a possible running mate for former Vice President Kamala Harris, who was tapped last summer to succeed former President Joe Biden. Harris ultimately chose Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota.
The pick was viewed by President Donald Trump as an intentional snub toward Shapiro “because of the fact that he’s Jewish.” Shapiro dismissed that characterization, claiming that Trump was “trying to use me” and “other Jews to divide Americans further.”
“Antisemitism played absolutely no role in my dialogue with the vice president,” Shapiro told reporters last August. “Absolutely none. It is also true that antisemitism is present in our commonwealth, in our country and in some areas within our party, and we have to stand up and speak out against that.”
This post has been updated with new information.