The arson suspect believed to have set Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s house on fire on the first night of Passover admitted to authorities that he hated Shapiro — and said he would’ve beaten him with a hammer if he found him, according to a criminal complaint.
Cody Balmer, 38, has been charged with criminal homicide, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism and aggravated assault, among other charges, the Harrisburg police department wrote in a criminal complaint obtained by The Post on Monday.
Balmer admitted to authorities that he had removed gasoline from a lawn mower and poured it into two Heineken bottles, which he later used as homemade Molotov cocktails, the docs reveal.
He reportedly walked an hour from his home to Shapiro’s before scaling the perimeter fence, breaking two windows with a hammer and throwing the Molotov cocktails inside, the complaint reads.
Authorities said they located the two broken Heineken beer bottles containing gasoline inside Shapiro’s living room.
Balmer “forcibly entered” Shapiro’s home early Sunday morning, just hours after the governor had guests over for Passover, and used homemade incendiary devices to set the home on fire as Shapiro and his family slept, Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said.
“He clearly had a plan,” Bivens said, according to CNN. “He was very methodical in his approach.”
While authorities have said the attack was “targeted,” a motive was not immediately known.
Balmer’s arrest comes days before he was expected in court for a plea hearing in a separate case stemming from a 2023 simple assault charge, according to CNN.
He also pleaded guilty in 2016 to forgery and theft by deception charges originating from a separate case.
Following his arrest, Balmer’s mother, Christie Balmer, told CBS her son is “mentally ill” and “went off his medication.”
The mother said she tried to get her son “picked up” and reached out to four different police departments but “couldn’t get anybody to help.”
“So he was mentally ill, went off his meds, and this is what happened,” she said.
Shapiro, who is Jewish, became visibly emotional as he spoke about the 2 a.m. attack on his home as he and his family slept inside after having people over for the first night of Passover.
“If he was trying to terrorize our family, our friends, the Jewish community, who joined us for a Passover Seder in that room last night, hear me on this: we celebrated our faith last night, proudly and in a few hours, we will celebrate our second Seder of Passover,” he said.
The entire home was safely evacuated and no one was injured, Shapiro wrote on X.
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