(Reuters) – The suspect in an arson attack on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence has been charged with attempted homicide, terrorism, aggravated arson and other felonies after his arrest on Sunday.
The 38-year-old suspect, Cody Balmer, was taken into custody on Sunday, hours after police rushed Shapiro and his family out of the governor’s official residence and local firefighters extinguished the fire in the middle of the night.
In a probable cause affidavit filed on Sunday, authorities said Balmer filled beer bottles with gasoline at his home in Harrisburg and walked about an hour to reach the governor’s residence. Once he arrived, he scaled a fence, broke two windows and threw the Molotov cocktails inside and fled.
The fire burned in two rooms that were not close to the where Shapiro and members of his family were sleeping.
Hours later, Balmer turned himself in to police. He told them that he “harbored hate” toward the governor and he planned to beat the governor with a hammer if he encountered him, authorities said in the affidavit.
Balmer was charged with attempted homicide, terrorism and aggravated arson. He also faces loitering and aggravated assault charges.
Shapiro, a Democrat seen as a potential candidate for his party’s presidential nomination in 2028, said at a press conference that FBI Director Kash Patel had spoken to him a few hours earlier and promised “all the resources of the federal government” in investigating the attack.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that she was “deeply relieved” the governor and his family were safe and applauded the rapid arrest of Balmer.
The residence was set on fire hours after Shapiro posted a picture of his family’s “seder” table as they celebrated the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover, which is about going “from slavery into freedom,” according to Shapiro.
“I refuse to be trapped by the bondage that someone attempts to put on me by attacking us as they did here last night,” he said on Sunday, vowing to continue his work for Pennsylvania without fear. Shapiro added that his family still planned to hold a second seder on Sunday night.
When asked whether the attack could have been a hate-motivated crime, Shapiro said he would defer to the findings from federal authorities and Pennsylvania’s district attorney.
Authorities will conduct a “multifaceted review in terms of security measures and the exact timeline of how it happened,” said Lieutenant Christopher Paris, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago; Editing by Frank McGurty and Chizu Nomiyama)
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