Josh Shapiro has spent years polishing his image, positioning himself as a potential presidential candidate. He hasn’t quite figured out that his party will never nominate a Jew for president, so you would think he’d still try to keep up appearances and pretend to be a decent human being before he starts his presidential campaign next year.
Instead, he’s making headlines for something extremely unflattering: a backyard land grab that truly destroys his statesman image and makes him out to be more like a corrupt governor abusing his position to get what he wants.
“Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s neighbors are suing the Democrat, accusing him of stealing a slice of their land to erect an eight-foot-high security fence around his private residence in an ‘outrageous abuse of power,’” reports the New York Post. “The neighbors, Jeremy and Simone Mock, are currently duking it out with the governor in court over a 2,900 square foot parcel of land located between their two homes in Abington, Montgomery County, court papers show.”
It gets worse. Shapiro is essentially claiming squatter’s rights on the land.
The Mocks alleged in a lawsuit filed last month that Shapiro and his wife, Lori, unlawfully seized the stretch of land after initial negotiations to buy it from them went up in flames.
Shapiro claimed in a countersuit that he owns the disputed land due, citing an “adverse possession” loophole that makes it his because he has maintained the sliver of property for decades.
The land-grab tit-for-tat kicked off last year when the Shapiros first sought to erect the huge fence and upgrade security following an arson attack on the governor’s official residence in Harrisburg while they were all sleeping inside on April 13.
“This is a case of squatters’ rights, which is the colloquial term for the legal doctrine known as adverse possession,” attorney Chad Cummings told Realtor.com. “Where a person continuously maintains possession of another’s property openly, visibly, and notoriously for a set period of time, which varies by state, the squatter can file a court action to ask the court to recognize the squatter—the ‘adverse possessor’—as the legal owner through a quiet title action.”
Think it can’t get worse? Well, it does.
The lawsuit claims Shapiro personally directed Pennsylvania State Police to patrol the disputed area and keep the Mocks and their contractors away from their own property. Troopers allegedly told the family the area was “disputed” and ordered them to leave the land.
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However, surveys and tax maps make it perfectly clear that the land is legally theirs. Did that stop the Shapiros from planting trees and other landscaping on the contested strip, and even flying a drone over the Mocks’ property? Nope.
This is not a great look for a man who wants to ask the country for more power.
The hypocrisy is galling. Shapiro made his name in part by opposing border walls and threatening legal action against the Trump administration over immigration enforcement and wall construction.
PA Democrat Gov Josh Shapiro wants to build a security wall around his house…. But promised to sue if Trump built a border wall!
Walls for me but not for thee!
You’re a massive hypocrite @GovernorShapiro https://t.co/4uEnJi9yP9 pic.twitter.com/KBmqf7RBlk
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 11, 2026
It’s hard to posture as the compassionate defender of the little guy when you’re effectively walling off your neighbors’ backyard and enlisting state police to bully them.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has previously blasted the very notion of “squatter’s rights,” saying back in 2024, “Squatters have no rights. How can you even pretend that this is anything other than you’re just breaking the law?”
Does the governor’s grab rise to the level of some career-ending sex scandal? No. But for a guy with clear presidential ambitions, this hits where it hurts: character. In fact, Shapiro, who is running for reelection this year, is already seeing it being used against him in one campaign.
One of his opponents, Stacy Garrity, has used this neighbor dispute in her campaign—posting Valentine’s Day messages on social media with Shapiro’s face that say: “I love you more than I love my neighbor’s yard.”
Shapiro may be popular in his state, and I wouldn’t count on this scandal thwarting his campaign, but stories like this will matter more elsewhere. If he really fancies himself a presidential contender, it’s mind-boggling that he didn’t handle this dispute better.
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