Cody A. Balmer has been accused of a slew of charges, including terrorism, prosecutors said Monday

He is the prime suspect in the case of arson that razed the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania home of Gov. Josh Shapiro on Sunday morning

Balmer, 38, was charged with attempted criminal homicide, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism and other counts

Josh and first lady Lori Shapiro, other guests and staff, were inside the Harrisburg residence when the fire erupted around 2 am

No one was injured in the fire, and the governor’s family was safely evacuated, but the residence sustained substantial damage

Balmer, of Harrisburg, turned himself into the Pennsylvania State Police on Sunday and admitted to ‘harboring hatred towards Governor Shapiro’

Arson suspect Cody A. Balmer, 38, was charged with attempted criminal homicide, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism and other counts in connection with the early Sunday morning attack

The man charged in connection with an arson at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home over the weekend allegedly climbed the residence’s fence, used a hammer to break a window and threw Molotov cocktails in to start the blaze, the criminal affidavit revealed.
The suspect, Cody A. Balmer, 38, was arrested after he turned himself in. He is charged with attempted criminal homicide, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism and other counts in connection with the early Sunday morning attack, the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday. 
Balmer’s arrest comes days before he was scheduled to appear in court for a plea hearing in a separate case stemming from a 2023 simple assault charge.

Arson suspect, Cody A. Balmer, [photo], was charged with attempted criminal homicide, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism and other counts in connection with the early Sunday morning attack on Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home in Harrisburg, PA

The fire, which occurred hours after the Pennsylvania’s governor, a Democrat, hosted a Passover dinner. The arson attack which lasted for several minutes erupted around 2 a.m. on Sunday. Shapiro and first lady Lori Shapiro, as well as guests and staff were inside the Harrisburg residence when the fire started.
The family, their dinner guests and staff, woken by loud bangs on their door, were forced to evacuate the blazing home, the homeowner said.
No one was injured in the fire, and the governor’s family was safely evacuated, although the residence sustained ‘substantial damage,’ prosecutors said.

Gov. Josh Shapiro [left], accompanied by law enforcement inspects damage at home after the deliberate arson attack

After Balmer, an auto mechanic from Harrisburg, turned himself into the Pennsylvania State Police on Sunday, he admitted to “harboring hatred towards Governor Shapiro.”
During the police interview, in response what he would have done if Shapiro found him inside the residence, “he advised he would have beaten him with his hammer,” the probable cause affidavit said.
Balmer was caught on security cameras both within and outside the residence, officials said. He was seen wearing a black “snap-on” jacket, black boots and carrying a bag.
Video surveillance footage showed the suspect climbing over an exterior fence of Shapiro’s residence, approaching the piano room windows on the south side of the home and breaking an exterior window with a hammer, the criminal affidavit said.

Fire fighters from the the Harrisburg Fire Dept. respond to the arson at home of Gov Josh Shapiro in Harrisburg, PA, early Sunday morning. The arsonist was caught on security footage intentionally setting the fire

Shortly after the figure was seen throwing a Molotov cocktail inside through the broken glass.
flames erupted in the interior of the home, the probable cause affidavit said.
The alleged arsonist then moved to an adjacent window, broke the glass to gain ingress through the broken window, before deploying a second incendiary device in the dining room that started another fire. The affidavit states that Balmer then moved toward the dining room exit, where the figure who wore mismatched gloves, one orange and one yellow, kicked open the door to the dining room to exit the residence.
The suspect left the property in the same direction he entered, climbing back over the perimeter fence, running through a parking lot and then fleeing the residence in a southeast direction, the affidavit said.
Investigators found two broken glass beer bottles containing gasoline in the dining room of the Shapiro residence.

No one was injured in the fire, and the governor’s family was safely evacuated, but the residence in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania sustained “substantial damage

More footage collected videos from privately owned security cameras tracked the suspect fleeing east on Peffer Street.
A sweep of Peffer Street led investigators to locate the gloves that matched the suspect’s in a trash can. The gloves had a “strong smell of gasoline emanating from them,” the criminal affidavit said. 
Shapiro, who is Jewish, had shared Passover well-wishes online Saturday evening just hours before the attack.
He condemned the attack in a Sunday press conference, saying, “This kind of violence is not OK … I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one particular party or another, or one particular person or another. It is not OK and it has to stop.
“Pennsylvania State Police in Harrisburg were contacted by a woman who said she was the ex-paramour of Balmer. She said Balmer confessed to the act and “wanted her to call police to turn him in,” the affidavit said. 
A short time later, Balmer approached a Pennsylvania State Police trooper at the department headquarters. He claimed he was “responsible” for the fire in the governor’s residence and “wished to turn himself in.”
The suspect was transported to the Pennsylvania State Police office in Harrisburg, where he was interviewed, the affidavit said. During the interview, he confessed his ill feelings toward Shapiro. 

Gov. Josh Shapiro Shapiro and first lady Lori Shapiro, their dinner guests as well as staff, were inside the Harrisburg residence when the fire erupted around 2 a.m. early Sunday. The family was safely evacuated

He told investigators that he removed gasoline from a lawn mower and poured it into beer bottles he found at his home, then walked for an hour to the governor’s residence with the intention of throwing the homemade Molotov cocktails into the home, the affidavit stated.
The arson suspect admitted that he scaled the perimeter fence, broke two windows with a hammer and threw the Molotov cocktails inside the home, concluding with the information that after leaving the governor’s residence, he returned to his own home and removed the clothes he wore during the attack.
Acting on that information, troopers conducted a search of his home where they seized the “snap-on” jacket, a black bag and a small sledgehammer, “which were identical to those observed in the surveillance at the Governor’s residence,” the affidavit noted.

Balmer said that he siphoned gasoline from a lawn mower into beer bottles at his home, before walking for an hour to the governor’s residence with the intention of torching the home with the Molotov cocktails

The arson suspect also told investigators that he was aware his actions would result in “negative consequences”, that it was possible Shapiro and others were home and that they could have been harmed

Balmer went further during his police interview to admit that he was aware his actions would result in “negative consequences,” knew it was possible that Shapiro and others were home at the time and that they could have been harmed.
After his confession Balmer was transported to Dauphin County Prison, where he is awaiting a preliminary hearing.
State police said Monday that Balmer was transported to a hospital, and is receiving treatment “due to a medical event not connected to this incident or his arrest,” but it was not clear what caused his hospitalization. 
Balmer worked as a mechanic. Kindermans Auto Repair, an auto repair shop in Harrisburg, wrote on Facebook on Sunday that he was a former employee at the shop. 
Balmer’s social media presence suggests he held staunch anti-government views. He often posted memes urging people to “become ungovernable”. In 2022 he re-posted an artwork of a Molotov cocktail with the slogan “Be the light you want to see in the world.”
He posted negative content about then-President Joe Biden and seemed to reject Biden’s 2020 presidential win. He shared posts on Facebook criticizing Biden during his term, including a picture with the text “Joe Biden owes me 2 grand” and a post that said “Biden supporters shouldn’t exist.”
He also shared a meme in 2020 that argued that both Democrats and Republicans “would rather argue with other than work to solve the problems we are facing.”
Balmer’s criminal history in Pennsylvania includes pleading guilty to forgery and theft in 2015. In another case in 2016, Balmer would again plead guilty to forgery. The troubled 38-year-old also has a pending case involving assault, from 2023.