Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer urged the Justice Department to pursue an investigation into whether the arson of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home was an antisemitic hate crime.
The man charged with setting the Democratic governor’s home ablaze over the weekend told 911 operators that he would “not take part in [Mr. Shapiro’s] plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,” according to court documents.
Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg, was charged with attempted homicide, aggravated arson, terrorism and other crimes, but local authorities have stopped short of hitting him with a hate crime charge.
Mr. Shapiro, who is Jewish, celebrated Passover at his home hours before the attack.
Mr. Schumer, the top Jewish elected official in the country, called on Attorney General Pam Bondi, in coordination with the FBI, to launch a probe into whether antisemitism played a role in the early Sunday attack.
“Our federal authorities must bring the full weight of our civil-rights laws to bear in examining this matter,” the New York Democrat wrote Thursday in a letter to Ms. Bondi. “No person or public official should be targeted because of their faith, and no community should wonder whether such acts will be met with silence.”
Ms. Bondi on Wednesday condemned the act and vowed that the Justice Department and FBI Director Kash Patel were working with local authorities to do “anything we can to help convict the person that did this and keep them behind bars, as long as possible.”
“I firmly believe that they wanted to kill [Mr. Shapiro],” she said.
Mr. Balmer is accused of throwing Molotov cocktails into the governor’s mansion. Court documents show that he told police after the incident that he was “harboring hatred” against Mr. Shapiro and would have beaten him with a hammer if given the chance. He also told 911 operators that the governor needed to “stop having my friends killed” and that “our people have been put through too much by that monster.”
Mr. Schumer noted that Mr. Balmer’s statements, in conjunction with the timing of the attack during Passover, raised “serious concerns about the antisemitic motivation” of the incident.
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, raid on Israel, and the Biden administration’s handling of the fallout of that massacre, Democrats have been divided over their support of Israel and Palestinians.
While Mr. Balmer is registered to vote in Pennsylvania, he is not affiliated with a party, according to state records. A handful of his social media posts are critical of former President Joseph R. Biden, one of which condemned his administration’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
A 2022 post showed a meme with needlework of a Molotov cocktail with the caption “Be the light you want to see in the world” emblazoned on the image.
Mr. Schumer said he looked forward to a response from Ms. Bondi and the Justice Department’s “continued vigilance in the face of antisemitic violence.”
“I appreciate your strong condemnation of the attack and urge you to ensure that the federal government does everything in its power to pursue justice and uphold the fundamental values of religious freedom and public safety,” he wrote in his letter.
