The suspect accused of setting fire to the Pennsylvania Governor’s mansion over the weekend has identified as “a registered socialist” and supported the Black Lives Matter movement on social media.
Cody Balmer, 38, is facing attempted murder and arson charges after setting a blaze inside the mansion while Governor Josh Shapiro and his family slept early Sunday morning. Balmer also faces terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault charges.
According to state police officials, Balmer scaled the fence surrounding the property and broke into the mansion by smashing in a window with a hammer at about 2:00 a.m. He immediately threw a Molotov cocktail into the room, sparking flames, according to the arrest affidavit. He then fled the mansion and jumped back over the fence, police said.
Shapiro and his family were reportedly in different area of the residence when the fire was set and were able to evacuate safely without any injuries.
Balmer was in the governor’s mansion for only one minute, police said.
“It was a very quick event,” a state police official told reporters during a press conference, adding that Balmer had a clear plan and was “very methodical” in his approach.
Shapiro’s State police detail working the overnight shift knew security was breached and were the first to respond to the arson attack.
“He acted very surreptitiously,” a Pennsylvania State Police officials said.
Balmer later turned himself in at the Pennsylvania State Police headquarters where he told investigators he had filled Heineken beer bottles with gasoline from a lawn mower and threw them into the governor’s home.
When asked what he would have done if he encountered Shapiro in the home, Balmer told investigators “he would have beaten him with his hammer.”
“This type of violence is not ok! This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society,” Shapiro stated during a press conference, Sunday afternoon. “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 ok. And it has to stop. We have to be better than this.”
The governor noted that the attack took place on the Jewish celebration of Passover, saying, “We celebrated our faith last night, proudly and in a few hours, we will celebrate our second Seder of Passover,” he said. “No one will deter me or my family or any Pennsylvanian from celebrating their faith openly and proudly.”
When Shapiro was asked if he believed the attack was politically motivated, he responded that it’s “not something [he was] prepared to answer.”
Because he frequently criticized Joe Biden on social media, some in the corporate media have sought to link the accused domestic terrorist to the MAGA movement.
However, on Facebook, Balmer identified as neither a Republican or Democrat, but as a socialist.
Moreover, he often shared memes criticizing Trump supporters and Christians.
Balmer also frequently shared links from anarchist accounts and showed support for Black Lives Matter, free universal healthcare, and failed independent presidential candidate Andrew Yang.
According to court documents, he has been charged for two other crimes in the past: a simple assault in 2023 and forgery and theft by deception in 2015.
Balmer’s mother told Pennlive he was off his medication to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder at the time of his attack on the governors mansion.
(Photo of Balmer by Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office via Getty Images)
Mr. Shapiro says he does not care whether his assailant was from “one particular side or the other”–but one can reasonably wonder what Mr. Shapiro’s statement would have been had the person not come from his side of the political spectrum.
I am certain that the MSM was literally salivating in hopeful anticipation that it would be that he was a devotee of MAGA!
Imagine their disappointment, the gnashing of teeth when they found out he was one of their own, one of them - a delusional, Marxist - devoid of morality but filled to the tippy top, to the brim with their own - despicable hatred and antipathy towards America, honesty and truth.