The man who broke into Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s official residence and started a fire by throwing two Molotov cocktails was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in state prison last week, after submitting a guilty plea to charges of attempted murder, 22 counts of arson, burglary and several other charges.
Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg, was sentenced by Dauphin County Judge Deborah Curcillo on Oct. 14, almost six months to the day that he attacked the governor’s residence in the Pennsylvania state capital.
Balmer told police that he targeted the residence and Shapiro in particular based on the “military actions of the State of Israel in Gaza,” according to law enforcement. Balmer also indicated to police that if he had come across Shapiro, he would have struck him with a sledgehammer he was carrying.
At the time of the attack, there were 22 people inside the residence, including the governor, First Lady Lori Shapiro, three of their children, 15 overnight guests and two Pennsylvania State Police troopers, according to the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office.
The DA’s Office noted that eight of the endangered individuals were minors between the ages of 8 and 16 years old.
Much of the fire damage occurred in a dining room where Shapiro, his family and guests held a Seder to mark the first night of Passover on April 12.
The Shapiros spoke to reporters in Harrisburg after the sentencing. “It’s hard for me to stand before you today and utter the words ‘attempted murder’ when it’s your own life — to know that someone tried to kill me. It’s especially hard to know that he tried to burn our family to death while we slept,” the governor said.
Shapiro said the hardest part of dealing with what happened has been explaining it to the couple’s four children and their nieces and nephews.
“I’ve carried with me this enormous sense of guilt. Guilt that doing this job that I love so much has put our children’s lives at risk. It’s been really hard. And candidly, I don’t know that I’ve been able to give them [my children] the right answers. I don’t know that I’ve been able to ease our children’s worries. But I can tell you we’ve tried, and it’s been an ongoing effort,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro said their children will ask them why someone would want to do them harm and how they could’ve gotten so far into the governor’s mansion.
Shapiro called the surveillance videos of Balmer carrying out the attack “chilling,” and that the family still thinks about the steps Balmer took as they walk through the residence.
He said the physical damage caused by the fire and the cost of the clean-up was “enormous” and that rebuilding efforts are still ongoing.
Shapiro expressed gratitude to the firefighters and police officers who rushed to the residence on April 13, putting out the fire and escorting those inside the mansion to safety.
Shapiro said that in “this time of rising political violence,” it’s important that people don’t grow numb to it or accept it as a cost of doing business in politics.
“I think we need real accountability for acts of political violence. And today is real accountability for the violence that came here to Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said.
Police said Balmer approached the residence in the early morning hours of April 13 and scaled an iron fence before using a sledgehammer to break a window and throwing a Molotov cocktail into a room, starting the fire.
He then broke another window and entered the residence. He then proceeded deeper into the building and threw a second Molotov cocktail. He pounded on two doors, including one leading to where the governor, his family and their guests slept, but could not get through.
Balmer then fled on foot. All the people who were in the residence at the time were able to evacuate unharmed.
Balmer surrendered at the state police departmental headquarters a few hours later and confessed to the attack later that same day. Family members said Balmer had been struggling with mental illness; Balmer denied having any mental illness at a court hearing in April.
Shapiro said that the impact of the attack is something that his family is still working through.
“I think we’re confident that it’ll get better. But we also know it’s going to always be with us,” Shapiro said.
Balmer is due to become eligible for parole in April 2050 at the age of 63. If he receives parole, he will remain under supervision until April 2075, when he will be 88 years old.
