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A suspected arsonist pleaded guilty in a Pennsylvania court on Tuesday after being accused of setting fire to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mansion in April as Shapiro and his family were asleep.
Cody Balmer, 36, appeared for the plea hearing at the Dauphin County Courthouse in Harrisburg wearing a dark red jumpsuit, handcuffs and ankle chains.
Balmer pleaded guilty to all charges, including attempted murder, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism and other related offenses.
Shapiro spoke at a press conference following Balmer’s guilty plea, calling for “real accountability for acts of political violence” while also asking the public to not “grow numb” to such actions.
“Sadly, as you know, our family is not the only ones to experience political violence, violence that is used to try and silence people or intimidate people,” the governor said. “I think it’s important that in this time of rising political violence, that none of us grow numb to it or accept this as the normal course of doing business for elected officials.”
Balmer allegedly set the fire at around 2 a.m. on April 13 after Shapiro and his family celebrated the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Shapiro and his family were asleep at the time of the incident.
In a 911 Balmer allegedly made after setting the fire, he admits that he set fire to the residence because of what Shapiro “wants to do to the Palestinian people,” according to audio obtained by FOX29 Philadelphia.
Authorities said at the time of his arrest that “Balmer admitted to harboring hatred towards Governor Shapiro.” Balmer also allegedly said he planned to attack Shapiro with his hammer if he were to find the governor in the mansion.
Shapiro said that his family, especially his children, has had a hard time dealing with the event.
“We will forever be changed by this,” he said. “We know that time will heal, but the scars will remain.”
Shapiro said that in the aftermath of the attack, he and his family leaned on their faith and thanked all the others who shared their faith and prayers with his family, along with the firefighters who charged into the burning mansion and state troopers who rushed his family to safety.
“I want you to know we’ve leaned a lot on our faith these past six months to try and work through this,” he said. “We’ve also leaned on the faith of so many others in the process.”
Shapiro’s remarks against political violence echo those he delivered in the immediate wake of the attack in April.
“This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society,” Shapiro said during a press briefing at the time. “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. We have to be better than this.”
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