HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — An independent expert will review security at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's official residence after investigators accused a man of scaling a wall and setting fire to the mansion, state police said Wednesday.
State police said the review will be a risk and vulnerability assessment of the governor’s official residence following the arson attack, which caused extensive damage and forced Shapiro and his family to flee.
Authorities allege Cody Balmer scaled an iron security fence, eluded police and set the residence ablaze early Sunday morning. Investigators were combing his background to try to determine any motive for the attack, including whether it had anything to do with the Democrat's politics or Jewish faith.
In court on Monday, Cody Balmer denied having any mental illness and described himself as an unemployed welder with no income or savings. A judge denied bail and ordered him held on charges including attempted homicide, terrorism and arson. He did not enter a plea.
Balmer told police he planned to beat Shapiro with a small sledgehammer if he encountered him after breaking into the building, according to court documents filed in this latest case of violence against political figures in the U.S.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday that she had spoken to Shapiro. She described the arson as “absolutely horrific” and said she believes the alleged culprit “wanted to kill him.”
Federal authorities are working with state law enforcement and doing “anything we can to help convict the person who did this,” she added
Balmer, 38, had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder but didn’t believe the assessment, his brother, Dan Balmer, told The Associated Press. He said he twice helped Cody get treatment at the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute.
Dan Balmer said his brother had displayed concerning behavior, including the night before the fire, when he flipped over a table at the home where Cody Balmer lived with their parents.
Balmer appeared to have carefully planned the attack and was inside the residence for about a minute before escaping, police said.
A search warrant says he scaled a nearly 7-foot-high (2-meter-high) security fence, smashed a window with a hammer and tossed a lit beer bottle filled with gasoline into the piano room. Then, he broke a second window, climbed inside the state dining room and lit a second Molotov cocktail before kicking open a door and fleeing, the warrant says.
The fire caused significant damage and forced Shapiro, his family and guests, including other relatives, to evacuate the building early Sunday. The residence, built in 1968, did not have sprinklers, and the damage could be in the millions of dollars, Harrisburg Fire Chief Brian Enterline said.
Shapiro said he, his wife, their four children and another family had celebrated the Jewish holiday of Passover on Saturday night in the same room. They were awakened by state troopers pounding on their doors at about 2 a.m. Firefighters extinguished the fire and no one was injured.
Balmer said he had walked for an hour to reach the governor’s residence, and during a police interview “admitted to harboring hatred towards Governor Shapiro,” according to a police affidavit that did not expand on that point.
Balmer turned himself in at state police headquarters after confessing to his former partner and asking her to call police, the affidavit said.
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Contributors include Associated Press reporters John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Eric Tucker in Washington.
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