As we reported, an arsonist set fire to Josh Shapiro’s house late Saturday night/early Sunday morning—while the Pennsylvania governor and his family were still inside. It’s yet another example of the disturbing uptick in domestic terrorism we’re witnessing in this country, arguably amplified by the increasingly inflammatory rhetoric we’re seeing from the left.
A suspect was arrested Sunday afternoon—38-year-old Cody Balmer—and details are now emerging about the twisted mind behind the attack. Not surprisingly, he appears to be yet another rage-filled anarchist, something we’re seeing all too often lately:
The suspected arsonist arrested over the firebombing attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home shared disturbing photos on social media — including pics of himself pointing a gun at the camera, and appearing to breathe fire, as well as a photo of an embroidered flaming Molotov cocktail.
Cody Balmer, 38, was arrested Sunday evening and faces charges of attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault for the 2 a.m. blaze at the Democrat’s residence, the Dauphin County district attorney has announced.
No motive has yet been given for the arson attack on the governor’s Harrisburg home, but a Facebook account believed to be run by Balmer, according to sources, includes a number of radical posts, images of guns and at least one apparent call for violence.
A man named Cody Balmer has been charged with terrorism, attempted murder, aggravated arson and aggravated assault over the April 13 family home arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. @JoshShapiroPA.
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) April 14, 2025
Local authorities have not released a photo of Balmer but I found and verified… pic.twitter.com/IIPVtsbQNK
Local authorities have not released a photo of Balmer but I found and verified images and posts belonging to him.
More: Breaking: Suspect Arrested in Arson of Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro's Residence
Yikes: PA Gov. Josh Shapiro's Home Set on Fire by Arsonist While He and Family Slept
Like would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh, he appears to be full of misdirected hate and incoherent anarchist (leftist) political philosophy and just wants to lash out at someone.
Even as evil as setting fire to a house with a family inside was, he was prepared to do worse:
He told police he’d planned to beat Shapiro with a hammer if he encountered him, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The accused arsonist and dad reshared a picture of an embroidery hoop featuring a hand-stitched flaming Molotov cocktail and the words “Be the light you want to see in the world,” in a June 2022 post.
Cody Balmer was named as the man who firebombed the PA governors house while he and his family slept inside.
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) April 14, 2025
Democrats have been CHEERING for political violence on Colbert, Kimmell, and The Daily Show
ENOUGH
pic.twitter.com/fGGriWi6qG
I never like to ascribe the violent actions of a person to the words of someone else—we’ve seen far too many examples of the leftist press blaming Trump or Republicans for insane behavior, like that exhibited by Gabby Giffords' shooter—but it’s hard to ignore that we’ve seen multiple assassination attempts against Donald Trump, another against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and now a near-miss on Gov. Shapiro’s entire family all as Democrats increasingly call for violence. Shapiro may not be on the right, but that doesn’t matter. When you call for violence, you get it, and you can’t control where it manifests.
I’m frankly not interested in whether this dude was “troubled” or “haunted” or faced inner demons. He almost succeeded in burning a family to death, so lock him up and throw away the key.
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