Man jailed after firebombing Jewish Pennsylvania governor’s home on Passover
Cody Balmer receives a minimum 25 year sentence after he scaled security fence and hurled petrol bombs into Josh Shapiro’s home during Passover family Seder
A man who firebombed the official residence of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro during Passover has been sentenced to up to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder and terrorism.
Cody Balmer, 38, admitted breaking into the governor’s mansion in the early hours of 13 April — the first night of the Jewish festival — and hurling Molotov cocktails into the occupied home, causing millions of dollars in damage.
Shapiro, his wife Lori, their four children, and more than a dozen guests were forced to flee as flames spread through the state-owned residence in Harrisburg. No one was injured, though Judge Deborah Curcillo described the footage of the attack as “horrific” and “very frightening.”
Under a plea deal reached on Tuesday, Balmer was handed a sentence of 25 to 50 years by Judge Curcillo.
Prosecutors said Balmer scaled an iron fence, broke windows with a sledgehammer, and threw beer bottles filled with petrol into the building. He later told police he had intended to assault the governor with the hammer if he had encountered him.
According to court documents, Balmer told officers his actions were “an offset to the war in the Middle East” and that he believed Shapiro was “encouraging the war in Gaza.” In a later letter from jail, however, he denied being motivated by antisemitism, writing: “He can be Jewish, Muslim, or a purple people eater for all I care.”
Shapiro, who is Jewish, said after the hearing that the plea deal “provides real accountability” and thanked first responders for saving lives.
“Sadly, our family is not the only one to experience political violence — violence used to try and silence or intimidate people,” he said. “We will forever be changed by this. Time will heal, but the scars will remain.”
District Attorney Fran Chardo told the court that video evidence showed Balmer striking doors leading to the bedrooms where the Shapiro family was sleeping but failing to get through before setting off a second incendiary device. Fifteen guests, including children, and two state troopers were inside at the time.
Balmer surrendered to police about 13 hours after the attack. His lawyer, Bryan Walk, said he was “taking full responsibility” and “paying a hefty price for a man who’s 38 years old.”
The Shapiros, in a victim statement read in court, said the ordeal had left them “feeling exposed in ways we could never have imagined” and that the trauma had placed “new stress” on their children’s lives.
The governor, who has served since 2023 and was widely tipped as a potential US vice-presidential contender in 2024, warned that escalating threats against public figures were discouraging people from entering politics.
“I think it’s important that in this time of rising political violence, none of us grow numb to it or accept this as normal,” he said.
Repairs to the mansion and upgrades to its security systems are ongoing.
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