President Donald Trump spoke about the arsonist who targeted the home of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro by saying the suspect is “not a fan of Trump” and “probably just a whack job.”
The arsonist threw Molotov cocktails into the governor’s residence in Harrisburg on Sunday, causing “significant” damage. Nobody was injured in the attack.
Last night at about 2AM, my family and I woke up to bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania State Police after an arsonist set fire to the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg.
The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire was on the scene and while they worked to put out the fire, we were…
— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) April 13, 2025
Cody Balmer of Harrisburg, 38, has confessed to the arson.
This is Cody Balmer, the suspect who tried to set fire to Josh Shapiro’s house.
He’s 1,000%, not MAGA, so you can expect this story to drop out of the headlines by this time tomorrow pic.twitter.com/CElqjA1rWD— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) April 13, 2025
Trump was asked about the incident while speaking to the press on Monday.
“The attacker was not a fan of Trump, I understand, just from what I read and from what I’ve been told. The attacker basically wasn’t a fan of anybody, he was probably just a whack job,” Trump asserted.
“And certainly a thing like that cannot be allowed to happen,” Trump continued.
JUST IN: Trump issues new statement on the arson and attempted m*rder of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.
“The attacker was not a fan of Trump, I understand… wasn’t a fan of anybody, was just a whack job.”
“A thing like that cannot be allowed to happen.” pic.twitter.com/UHwj4kR7ru
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 14, 2025
Balmer has been charged with attempted murder, terrorism, and aggravated arson.
I am deeply relieved that Governor Shapiro and his family are safe, thankful for the first responders who arrived on the scene, and applaud the police work that resulted in an arrest just hours ago. https://t.co/OnJALXmpvU
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) April 13, 2025
Attorney General Pam Bondi said of the incident, “I am deeply relieved that Governor Shapiro and his family are safe, thankful for the first responders who arrived on the scene, and applaud the police work that resulted in an arrest just hours ago.”
