The man who torched the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion while Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were sleeping inside pleaded guilty Tuesday to the arson attack.
Federal prosecutors said Cody Balmer, 38, pleaded guilty to attempted murder, arson and terrorism charges in the April break-in that saw Mr. Shapiro, wife Lori and their children startled awake by security so they could evacuate the home.
The attack on the governor, who is Jewish, took place during the first night of the Passover holiday.
The governor, a Democrat, said he fully supported the plea deal, which calls for the firebug to serve between 25 to 50 years behind bars.
While Mr. Shapiro and his relatives made it out of the blaze unscathed, he added that they are still treating their psychic wounds left by the attack.
“Lori and I are mindful that serving in public office today brings with it risks,” Mr. Shapiro told reporters Tuesday after the plea. “It’s a sad state of the world we are in.”
“But I have to tell you before this attack, those risks just felt very theoretical to me,” he continued. “Something that could happen elsewhere to someone else but couldn’t happen here. Sadly, this made it all real. And it brings with it a real sense of vulnerability that our family feels every single day.”
Court documents said Balmer jumped a fence, sneaked past the Pennsylvania state troopers watching over the mansion and broke into a part of the home typically used to host parties.
Balmer set the southern wing of the home on fire on April 13, prosecutors said. Police recovered two homemade incendiary devices inside the burned-out room. The arsonist escaped, but turned himself in the next day.
The criminal complaint said Balmer targeted Mr. Shapiro, in part, because of the governor’s opinions about the Israel-Hamas war. He also expressed a desire to beat Mr. Shapiro with a sledgehammer if he came across the governor during his attack.
Mr. Shapiro has been a vocal supporter of Israel’s counteroffensives after Islamist terror group Hamas killed more than 1,200 civilians and took another 250 hostage during a raid on Oct. 7, 2023.
He had celebrated the first night of Passover hours earlier with his family on the night of the attack.
Balmer told the Associated Press in a jailhouse letter that he didn’t go after Mr. Shapiro because he is Jewish, but declined to answer what his personal problems with the governor were during an interview a month later.
Family members of Balmer’s said he struggled with mental-health issues and they had been urging him to get help.