Pennsylvania authorities on Sunday said they arrested the man behind the predawn arson attack at the governor’s mansion that forced Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family to flee the residence in the middle of the night.
Pennsylvania State Police said they took Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg into custody on Sunday afternoon.
Prosecutors said the suspect will face charges of attempted murder, terrorism, arson and assault in the 2 a.m. attack that had troopers startling the Shapiro family awake to get them to safety.
“This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society, and I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one particular party or another, or one particular person or another, it is not okay, and it has to stop,” an emotional Mr. Shapiro, a Democrat, said at a Sunday afternoon press conference.
Authorities have not established a motive for the attack at this time.
Mr. Shapiro, who is Jewish, celebrated the first night of Passover with his family in the hours before his home was set ablaze.
Police said Mr. Balmer hopped over a fence, slipped past the governor’s security team monitoring the home and “surreptitiously” entered the house in order to set it on fire.
The suspect is accused of using a “homemade incendiary device,” but police refused to describe the weapon in greater detail.
No one was injured in the blaze because, police said, Mr. Shapiro and his family were staying in a different part of the home from where the fire was ignited.
The attack did cause a significant amount of damage to the mansion.
Photos shared by fire officials showed smoke coming from one of the home’s windows. Damage inside the residence included one piece of furniture which was visibly charred by blaze.
Former two-term Gov. Tom Ridge, a Republican, called the damage photos “heartbreaking.”
Before the attack, Mr. Shapiro commemorated the Passover holiday in a social media post, including a photo of their table set for the traditional Seder meal.
At Sunday’s press conference, the governor talked about the meaning of the holiday and how it tells the story of Moses leading the Jews out of slavery in Egypt and attaining freedom.
“It’s an important story, both literally and figuratively, to tell, and I refuse to be trapped with a bondage that someone attempts to put on me, attacking us, as they did here last night,” Mr. Shapiro said.
“I refuse to let anyone who has evil intentions like that stop me from doing the work that I love, stop me from being a leader of this commonwealth and looking out for all Pennsylvanians. I will not be deterred in my work and I will not be afraid to do that,” he added.
Mr. Shapiro has been supportive of Israel during its ongoing war with Islamist terror group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, a stance that has put him out of step with progressives and radicals in his party.
He was widely speculated about as a running mate for former Vice President Kamala Harris in last fall’s election, though the Democratic nominee ultimately chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to join her campaign, reportedly because of progressive opposition.
Mr. Shapiro has four children with his wife — Sophia, Jonah, Max and Reuben. The latter two children are still minors.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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