Cody Balmer, the Harrisburg man accused of throwing molotov cocktails into the Governor’s Residence in April as Gov. Josh Shapiro, his family and guests slept inside, pleaded guilty to attempted murder with a sentencing enhancement for terrorism last week.
Balmer, 38, will serve a minimum of 25 years and a maximum of 50 years in state prison He’ll be eligible for parole in 2050 when he is 63 years old.
Balmer said he had planned to kill Shapiro with a hammer he carried as he broke into the residence.
All 22 people who were in the residence, including Shapiro, his family, and guests celebrating the Passover holiday, were evacuated safely. All were asleep save two state troopers who were on guard.
Balmer also pleaded guilty to 46 other charges, including aggravated arson, burglary and the reckless endangerment of 22 individuals, including children between the ages of 8 and 16.
Following the guilty plea, Shapiro made an emotional speech outside his office in the Capitol, with Lori by his side.
Governor Josh Shapiro and First Lady Lori Shapiro make a statement following today’s guilty plea for the individual charged in connection with the attempted assassination of Governor Shapiro and the arson attack at the Governor’s Residence in April.
“To be honest, Lori and I have struggled over the last six months to try and make sense of all of this,” Shapiro said. “The hardest part has been trying to explain it to our four children, and to our nieces and nephews. I’ve carried with me this enormous sense of guilt — guilt that doing this job that I love so much has put our children’ s lives at risk.”
Shapiro said the attack is part of a broader trend in which political violence/domestic terrorism is leading to potentia; candidates for public office to reevaluate plans to run for office.
“I think it’s important that in this time of rising political violence that none of us grow numb to it, or accept this as the normal course of doing business,” he said. “I’ve talked to people who are thinking about running for office who have said they don’t want to, because they don’t want to put their families at risk. These are good people who just want to serve, want to do right by their communities, who are being impacted by this unacceptable level of political violence.”
Governor Josh Shapiro and the Pennsylvania State Police provide an update on the act of arson that took place at the Governor’s Residence.