US prosecutors charged a man on Monday with the attempted murder of Democratic heavyweight and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro after a weekend arson attack at his residence, court filings showed.
Cody Balmer, 38, was charged with attempted criminal homicide along with seven other offences – including terrorism affecting the government and prowling at nighttime.
He told police he harboured “hatred towards Shapiro,” according to the criminal docket.
Asked what he would have done had he encountered Shapiro in the residence, Balmer told investigators he would “have beaten him with his hammer.”
Shapiro, widely viewed as a potential 2028 presidential contender, was inside with his family when the fire broke out in a different part of the Georgian-style mansion in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Sunday, state police said earlier.
“While the fire was successfully extinguished, it caused a significant amount of damage to a portion of the residence,” the force said in a statement. No casualties were reported.
