2 days ago
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The man charged with setting fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion called emergency responders after the attack and made comments signaling support for Palestinians, the New York Times reports.
According to a search warrant in the case, 38-year-old Cody Balmer identified himself by name in a 911 call and said that Pennsylvania’s governor, Josh Shapiro, “needs to know that he ‘will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people’”.
Balmer then said “he needs to stop having my friends killed, and ‘our people have been put through too much by that monster’”. While the warrant does not specify who he was referring to, it appears to be a reference to Shapiro, who is a strong supporter of Israel amid the war in Gaza, and considered a rising star in the Democratic party.
The warrant said that Balmer ended the call by saying “you know where to find me. I’m not hiding and I will confess to everything that I’ve done.”
Balmer, a resident of Pennsylvania’s capital, Harrisburg, faces charges of attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated assault and aggravated arson in connection with the blaze, which badly damaged parts of the mansion.
At a Monday court appearance, Balmer stuck out his tongue at reporters as he arrived, and was later denied bail. The Hill reported that he had been due in court on Wednesday for a hearing on separate domestic abuse allegations, after Balmer allegedly told officers that he had attempted suicide by taking a full bottle of pills, sparking an argument with his wife that escalated into him attacking her and his stepson.
USA Today said that Balmer and his wife finalized their divorce in February of this year, and he was subject to a protection from abuse order.
The attack on the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg took place around 2am on Sunday, hours after Shapiro, his wife, their four children, two dogs and another family had celebrated the Jewish holiday of Passover in one of the rooms that sustained damage in the blaze.
Asked at a press conference about Balmer’s motive, Shapiro pointed to earlier comments downplaying the reason for the attack: “Nothing he could do would deter me from doing my job as governor. Nothing he could do would deter me from proudly and openly practicing my faith.
“I said on Sunday that this kind of violence has no place in our society, regardless of what motivates it. This is not how we resolve our differences, and this is not OK. This level of violence has to end,” Shapiro continued, deferring further comment to state prosecutors.
In an interview with police after his arrest, Balmer said that he would have beaten Shapiro with a small sledgehammer if he had encountered him inside the mansion. Police have said the suspect was in the residence for about a minute, and lit the fires using beer bottles filled with gasoline, after hopping a nearly 7ft-high (2.1-meter-high) fence and eluding officers who were alerted to the breach.
