Days after an arson attack damaged his official residence, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro sat down with Good Morning America co-anchor George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive interview and a tour of the charred rooms.
“This is sadly a real part of our society today. And it needs to be universally condemned, George,” Shapiro said regarding the rise of politically motivated threats and attacks that the Department of Homeland Security has warned about in recent years.
Watch more of George Stephanopoulos’ exclusive interview with Gov. Josh Shapiro on “Good Morning America” at 7 a.m. Friday on ABC.
“I don’t care if it’s coming from the left, from the right. I don’t care if it’s coming from someone who you voted for or someone who you didn’t vote for, someone on your team or someone on the other team,” Shapiro continued.
The governor spoke with Stephanopoulos from one of the fire-damaged rooms at the governor’s residence in Harrisburg on Thursday. For the first time together, the governor and first lady Lori Shapiro also toured the damage, along with Stephanopoulos.
The attack happened early Sunday, hours after the Shapiro family hosted more than two dozen people for the first night of Passover. The assailant hopped a fence at the governor’s mansion, broke windows and hurled Molotov cocktails made from beer bottles and gasoline, police said.
Shapiro and his family were in the residence at the time of the fire but were evacuated safely and not injured, according to state police.
Harrisburg Fire Chief Brian Enterline described it as “surreal” to see fire shooting from the governor’s residence. Luckily, the door from the main dining room was closed at the time of the blaze, keeping the fire from spreading into the living quarters. Had the door not been closed, Enterline said Shapiro and his family would no doubt have been at risk.
The suspect in the attack — 38-year-old Cody Balmer — turned himself in and allegedly told police he would have attacked Shapiro with a hammer if he happened upon the governor inside the residence, according to court documents.
The suspected arsonist allegedly decided to firebomb the Democratic governor’s official residence because of “what he wants to do to the Palestinian people” and “based upon perceived injustices to the people of Palestine,” according to police search warrants.
Balmer faces eight criminal charges, including attempted murder, terrorism and aggravated arson. So far, prosecutors have not invoked a hate crime law, which in Pennsylvania is known as ethnic intimidation.
Balmer — a mechanic who had previously expressed disdain for Democrats on social media — was denied bail at his arraignment on Monday.
During the hearing, his attorney said Balmer is indigent and asked for a “reasonable monetary bail,” but the judge denied it, saying that while he appreciated that Balmer turned himself in, there were no conditions that could keep him from being a danger to the community.
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