Governor’s mansion arson suspect was angry about Gaza War, Pennsylvania police say

The man suspected of setting fire to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence over the weekend while Shapiro and his family were asleep inside expressed anger over the ongoing Gaza War, authorities say.

According to several search warrant applications filed by the Pennsylvania State Police, Cody Balmer called 911 at 2:50 a.m. Sunday morning — about 50 minutes after the fire — and said Shapiro should know that Balmer “will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people.”

Balmer said he’d had friends killed, according to police, and that “our people have been put through too much by that monster.” It was unclear what connection he has to the Palestinian territories, if any. Balmer added that “all he has is a banquet hall to clean up.” Both the dining room and piano room suffered significant damage from the fire.

Shapiro, a Democrat, is Jewish and has said he supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. He faced criticism last year for an opinion piece he wrote as a University of Rochester student arguing that peace would never come to the Middle East and that Palestinians were “too battle-minded,” WHYY reported.

Shapiro and members of his family had celebrated a Passover Seder in the governor’s residence in Harrisburg just hours before the arson attack early Sunday morning.

“I said after the assassination attempt on the president in Butler, I said in Altoona after we captured the individual who shot and killed [UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson] and I said on Sunday that this kind of violence has no place in our society regardless of what motivates it,” Shapiro said Wednesday. “This is not how we resolve our differences.”

The search warrants for Balmer’s mom’s home and a storage unit in Penbrook Borough believed to belong to him sought to seize cell phones, laptops and other electronic devices as well as writings or notes that contain Shapiro’s name as well as references to the Palestinian territories, Israel, Gaza and the current conflict there.

Dauphin County chief public defender Mary Klatt said a team of attorneys was representing Balmer, who turned himself in to authorities on Sunday.

“The allegations, if true, demonstrate the devastating consequences of severe mental illness,” Klatt said in an emailed statement. “Mr. Balmer’s preliminary hearing will be continued for the purpose of determining his competency to stand trial.”

He was denied bail and was being held in Dauphin County Prison.

Investigators say Balmer, 38, accessed the governor’s residence early Sunday morning by scaling a fence and evading law enforcement officers. He allegedly broke several windows of the home and used homemade Molotov cocktails fashioned from Heineken beer bottles to set fire to two rooms of the residence, police say.

Balmer fled without being captured but later turned himself in to police, according to authorities.