Police: Arson Suspect Admitted ‘Harboring Hatred’ Toward Gov. Shapiro
The police also said that an ex-girlfriend of Balmer contacted the police. She claimed Balmer confessed to committing the fire and wanted her to turn him in to the police.
According to the criminal complaint, arson suspect Cody Balmer admitted to “harboring hatred” towards Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
He advised on the date in question he removed gasoline from a lawn mower and poured it into Heineken Bottles he found at his residence. BALMER advised he walked for approximately one hour from his residence to the Governor’s Residence with the intention of throwing his homemade Molotov cocktails into the residence. BALMER admitted that, once at the residence, he scaled the perimeter fence, broke two windows with a hammer, and threw the Molotov cocktails inside. BALMER also advised that prior to committing these acts, he was aware his actions would result in negative consequences. When asked if he was aware that Governor SHAPIRO and others were home at the time of this act, BAMER advised that he was aware this was a possibility. BALMER also admitted that he it was a possibility people could be injured by his actions.
Horrible: “Balmer was asked specifically what he would have done if Governor Shapiro found him inside of his residence to which he advised he would have beaten him with his hammer.”
I just had shivers go down my spine.
The police said Balmer told them he returned home and removed his clothing.
Troopers went to Balmer’s house and took a “‘Snap-On’ jacket, black bag, and a small sledge hammer which were identical to those observed in the surveillance at the Governor’s Residence.”
The police also said that Balmer’s “ex-paramour” contacted them. She claimed Balmer confessed to committing the fire and wanted her to turn him in to the police.
Cody Balmer facing attempted murder , terrorism charges & more. He admitted to breaking into the Governor’s mansion and tossing gas filled beer bottles inside causing a fire. If he saw Shapiro inside, Balmer said ,”he would have beaten him with his hammer.” Balmer surrendered. pic.twitter.com/Qc28PA2ZXb
— Annie McCormick (@6abcAnnie) April 14, 2025
Balmer faces numerous charges including:
- Criminal Attempt – Criminal Homicide
- Aggravated Arson – Person Present Inside Property
- Terrorism – Affect the Conduct of a Government
6ABC reported that the police “have not ruled out Shapiro’s Jewish faith” as a possible motive.”
Mother
Cory Balmer’s mother Christie Balmer told CBS: “So he was mentally ill, went off his meds, and this is what happened.”
Christie Balmer also said four police departments picked him up last week.
Hospitalized
The Pennsylvania State Police announced Balmer is in the hospital:
“The suspect in the arson that occurred at the Governor’s Residence on 04/13/25 has been identified as Cody A. Balmer, 03/23/1987, of Harrisburg, PA. He was taken into custody without incident and charged through Magisterial District Court 12-1-02, Harrisburg. Due to a medical event not connected to this incident or his arrest, Balmer was transported to an area hospital where he is currently receiving treatment. He remains under PSP supervision and will be transported to the Dauphin County Prison for arraignment upon his release.”
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I had read that his mother called four different police departments trying to get her son ‘picked up’ because she was worried about him ‘being off his meds.’ She claims none of them were of any help. Whatever the case, police are fortunate he turned himself in because it appears they didn’t have bupkis for credible leads.
SSRI’s????
We’ll never know. That stuff is too profitable.
I’m betting he’s bipolar (and since I’m betting I’ll also bet he’s a lesbian just for JR).
Bipolar? Are you referring to the two lugs on either side of his neck?
Current term: Biopolar
Previous termL Manic depressive
Lugs nuts optional
No, he can’t be bipolar. I checked the police charging statement and there were no multiple pronouns used to identify the suspect. /sarc
I guess I don’t know how an official Governors residence works. I had no idea you could show up dressed in black, scale a fence, smash windows to lob in Molotovs and then walk on home with no one noticing.
They’re just governors. They don’t have the same security the WH does. I would suspect some sort of state police presence, but clearly they don’t do much for perimeter security in PA.
It’s easy to overestimate the effectiveness of a security program. The problem is that Nothing EVER happens. Day after day after night after night, nothing. It becomes impossible to maintain any level of alertness.
We operated a 1.8 millions sq ft distribution center with well over $120M in inventory. Every one of the 1500 employees had to pass a single security checkpoint. That was functionally worthless. Once as a test we had a maintenance worker put a case of Skoal snuff on his shoulder and walk through the checkpoint. Because they knew him, no one thought to ask what he was doing. After repeating this five times, we had him stop to chat with them on the sixth time. After the seventh trip someone finally asked what the hell he was doing….
So, security at a governor’s mansion where nothing has happened for ?15? years? Yeah, okay.
This is the fundamental problem for TSA with the requirement for searching everyone equally. If t
Well, nobody would notice a face like his. It blends in with the crowd so as not to stand out.
Tsarist chic!
Oh, I don’t know… speaking as a beard-o, I assert Tsar Nikolas had a FAR better beard than the attacker.
Well, maybe neo-Tsarist — early Lenin.
A face only his mother could love, and apparently his did since she tried to get him taken into custody.
His mother, or a Romanov.
So even if one is Governor of a state with 13M people, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away. I sort of want Active Self Protection to do a breakdown here. It seems like PA hired the same security company that was in charge of that President of United Health Care. The absence of situational awareness here is staggering.
So where’s the party wokiesta demands amplified by legacy media for:
1. Hammer control; probably need a background check, waiting period and an owner registry with special tax/special licensing requirements for nonstandard hammers a framing hammer or a sledge
2. Red flag laws for those who go off their prescription psych meds…mandatory lock up.
3. Beer bottle control
3. Gasoline control,
4. Sue the pharmaceutical companies and the hammer manufacturers along with beer companies and local gas stations for irresponsible actions of third parties with their lawful product
After all that’s how it goes when firearms are involved.
I know you’re joking, but he can actually be charged in Pennsylvania with Possession of Instruments of a Crime for the hammer and Possession of Explosive or Incendiary Materials or Devices for the gasoline and beer bottles.
He.can indeed be charged with that but only b/c he used them in commission of multiple crimes. That’s the point, nearly anything can be used to aid in commission of some sort of crime. However, firearms are treated as particularly objectionable.
This event shows that some whack job with a hammer, some beer bottles, a couple gallons of gas and little determination can sneak past Security into the Gov Mansion,.light the place on fire in an attempt to kill a sitting Gov and his family….no firearms in sight.
IOW lack of a firearm won’t prevent criminals from committing crimes. Especially when the vast majority of gun control efforts extend into harassing otherwise law abiding Citizens instead of locking up criminals and keeping them locked up. Whatever else can be said about mass incarceration we can’t say it is ineffective in keeping those in prison from personally committing more crimes outside the prison.
Hammer control? Massachusetts already did that.
To legally operate a powder-actuated nailer (like for concrete), you had to apply for a state permit. There were no educational requirements or competency tests, you just applied, told them you were an adult, and maybe paid a fee, I don’t remember.
Because it had eeeeeeeevil gunnnnnnnnpowder inside it!
Probably had nothing to do with gunpowder. It was just another opportunity to fleece the stupid public. If they had actually realized it had gun powder they would have labeled it an assault nailer and banned it.
Nope, it was about the gunpowder. Under Bartley-Fox, possession of even a single ammo component –including an expended casing — without a license was a gun law violation with mandatory prison time.
Amazing how many gov’t laws/regs are.99% about revenue generation.
any bets on his political party affiliations….
News reports call him “an Independent”… naturally.
Any bets he’s a Democrat who wanted Tim Walz as Harris’ running mate?
This will disappear in the media memory hole in no time.
Memory hole? That’s where Joe Biden’s memory went. It oozed there little by little until at last it flat out disappeared and all the king’s teleprompters and all the king’s note cards couldn’t put it back together again.
Today, Tucker writes that he is a “self-avowed socialist” who “supported Black Lives Matter and even glorified political violence on social media.”
Wish somebody had bothered to supply any source citations.
Militant Amish?
Rasputin enthusiast?
There’s a video clip out there of an Amish horse/buggy coming out onto a road hauling ass and trying to turn left but goes into a dangerous ‘drift’ before correcting….with ‘Freebird’ playing in the background.
If the Amish ever do show up playing Freebird for real …y’all are on your own ’cause I’m out.
whig
Last time I saw Pete, he was in a tight spot. Them si-reens had loved him up and turned him into a horny toad!
He’s a man of constant sorrow with that soggy bottom of his.
this guy looks like the missing link (or JR’s brother).
Twin brother.
Twin brother separated at birth or maybe not separated. Then again maybe it is JR. We’ve never seen the two of them together have we?
He’s the guy who designed Smith Brothers Cherry Crunch for Ben & Jerry.
JR?
The Bongino Rule sure came into effect on this one. A whole lot of commentators on other sights immediately claimed he had to be black or tranny because no picture or Muslim because Shapiro or Antifa. Turns out he was just some bat shit crazy guy off his meds who should have been in a home.
Next they’ll be looking to ban hammers and beer bottles…
Clicking through the ‘From the complaint’ link above I see that the “Magisterial Docket 12-1-02” has the ‘No’ box checked for ‘Advised of His Right for Assignment of Counsel.’ Would a lawyer please translate that for us laymen, because it sounds as if he was not Mirandized.
If that hammer was a Snap-On, you can bet he was still making payments on it.
He needs lobotomy. But that’s not allowed nowadays. He can’t be trusted to take meds. The next cause celebre for leftists extremists?
Call it “transmentalism” and the left will be all over it, “protecting” your right to
lobotomies“health care for the neurodivergent.”It looks to me like his “meds” are called methamphetamine.
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