Who is Cody Allen Balmer? Suspect accused of arson attack on Gov. Shapiro's home
The man accused of firebombing Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's house over the weekend had struggled in recent years with problems in his home life as well as issues stemming from covering his home mortgage, according to court records reviewed by ABC News.
Cody Allen Balmer was arrested on Sunday for allegedly breaking into the governor's home while he and his family were inside and setting fires with two Molotov cocktails.
He was denied bail at his arraignment on Monday.
Before he was arrested and charged with attempted homicide, aggravated arson and terrorism in the attack on the governor's mansion, Balmer was already due in court this coming Wednesday on charges stemming from the domestic assault allegations.
Balmer, 38, had grappled with a protracted back-and-forth over foreclosure proceedings, and allegations that he assaulted his then-wife and children amid what he told police was his failed attempt at suicide.
He had worked as an auto mechanic in the Harrisburg area and served eight years as an Army Reservist from his late teen years onward. U.S. Army Spokeswoman Heather J. Hagan said in a statement that Balmer was a construction equipment repairer (62B) in the Army Reserve from April 2004 to June 2012. He had no deployments. He was a sergeant when he left the Army. The Service declined to say whether he had been discharged honorably, citing privacy laws.
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In 2022, Balmer was sued by a mortgage lender seeking to foreclose on his Harrisburg house. By June 2024, he owed nearly $117,000 plus interest. A sheriff's sale had been set, but Balmer's lawyer asked that the sale be postponed, saying Balmer had found it harder to make ends meet because of bad luck and marital strife.
Balmer had "fallen behind in his mortgage due to several hardship factors, including injuries from an auto accident leading to his inability to work and maintain an income and a separation from his wife," his lawyer said in court documents. Still, he had just found a buyer despite "numerous issues in and with the property" and needed time to finish the sale. The case was dismissed in Jan. 2025 as the parties had "resolved" the matter.
At the same time, he had an escalating and allegedly violent situation at home, court documents show.
In late Jan. 2023, local police were called to a home in the Harrisburg area for what was characterized in court documents as an "active physical domestic" incident.
"A child caller advised his stepfather was beating his mother," the responding officer's affidavit said. The officer responded and outside the home met Balmer's then-wife "in an elevated state, yelling and crying about her husband, Cody Balmer, having assaulted her."
"Cody was still inside the residence," the officer said.
Balmer told the officer "that he had taken a bottle full of pills in an attempt to kill himself," the affidavit said. "An argument ensued between Cody and [his wife] to a point that his 13-year-old son" had "stepped in between them. Cody then admitted to shoving his son and that a fight ensued between all parties. Cody showcased injuries to his face."
Balmer had hit his 10-year-old son "in the chest and stepped on his broken leg in the midst of a scuffle with the victim and two others," and had hit his 13-year-old son and his wife "with closed fists, and bit his wife causing a puncture wound on her hand," according to the criminal complaint.
A $5,000 unsecured bail was set for Balmer, according to a criminal docket. The document says this was "to make [it] easier to co-parent.'
In Pennsylvania, defendants given an unsecured bail do not have to post any money upfront but must agree to pay the stated bail amount should they not show up for court or violate bail conditions, according to state law.
The assault case is still pending in Dauphin County. A separate criminal docket states that a hearing in that case was scheduled for this coming Wednesday.
Available court documents did not indicate whether he had entered a plea in the domestic assault case. His estranged wife and public defender did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for comment.
Balmer was also previously accused of forgery. Court records show he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months of probation. Balmer's estranged wife's aunt told ABC News over the phone that she had only met him "a couple of times" but that "he seemed nice."
"He was a little quiet, just, a little laid back, but he seemed nice," Aunt Janel Jones said. She had heard of the arson attack of which Balmer is now accused -- a "shock" to her, she said.
"It's a shock. To me, it's a shock. But you never know - I wasn't around him 24/7 either. The only person that could give you, like, a better understanding of him would be my niece, his wife," Jones said, adding her niece has two daughters with Balmer. "So that's -- this is crazy. This is really crazy," Jones said.
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A Facebook profile being reviewed by law enforcement in connection to Balmer reflects a mix of family photos with what appeared to be an expression of disdain for politicians on both sides of the aisle. His pictures include selfies with small kids wearing costumes, and other posts include critiques of both President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden, the latter of whom he criticized for his age and his economic policies.
Balmer also made numerous posts complaining about the high cost of living in the United States. In Nov. 2022, he posted, "Can't pay rent? Sell your f**** organs! No more organs? F**** die then this is America be grateful for the opportunity you had."
In a 2022 post, Balmer shared an image of an embroidered flaming Molotov cocktail, with the inscription: "Be the light you want to see in the world."
Who is Cody Allen Balmer? Suspect accused of arson attack on Gov. Shapiro's home originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
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After the attack, someone posted "Wanted" signs on the Pearl Street Mall just steps from the scene, naming the majority of city council members as guilty of "complicity in genocide" for refusing to pass a ceasefire resolution and not divesting from businesses that are helping Israel wage its war against Hamas. "Not only has the rhetoric become increasingly centered around violence and division but we have an increasing amount of cowardice, from cowardly administrators, cowardly government officials," said Adam Rovner, who directs the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Denver. "We're seeing it much more clearly now. And unfortunately Jewish communities are paying the cost." Egyptian national Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, faces more than 118 state and federal charges in connection with the attack, including hate-crime accusations. Investigators say he confessed and remains unrepentant, telling them he deliberately targeted the marchers because he considered them a "Zionist Group." Divisions continue after Pearl Street attack Amid the extreme positions on the Israel-Hamas war, Run for their Lives believed most people could get behind their message. The national Run for their Lives organization has sponsored walks or runs in hundreds of cities and towns since Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust in which over 1,000 people were killed and 240 were taken hostage. As of June 5, 56 hostages are still being held by Hamas, although that number includes both the living and presumed dead. On June 1, as she had dozens of times in the past, Turnquist was pushing her Australian shepherd Jake in a stroller as the group made its way past the historic Boulder County Courthouse on Pearl Street pedestrian mall. She saw a man dressed like a landscaper ‒ odd, she thought, since it was a Sunday ‒ and thought it would be best to just keep walking, as she had done so many times before when counter-protesters screamed and yelled. There had never been physical violence against the group, but there were insults, jeers, accusations that the marchers themselves support genocide. Turnquist and others who have marched said they often felt unsafe. "We ignore the people who are against us," said Turnquist, who is Jewish. "We can't let Boulder tell us what to do. We can't let university students tell us we can't do stuff like this, because that's what they do. Week after week, people are yelling at us all the time, saying we are causing genocide. We're not causing genocide. We were attacked and we are fighting to get our hostages back." The conflict between the marchers and counter-protesters is a microcosm of the vicious disputes that have long been on display in Boulder, where Palestinian students disrupted classes earlier this year. Turnquist, the protest marcher, said knowing the group lacked the full support of local elected officials made it harder to feel comfortable during those Sunday protests. She said she went into a Boulder shop at the start of the Gaza war while wearing a necklace with a Jewish symbol on it. The shopkeeper suggested she hide it, so she didn't become a target, she said. "One of the things I remember saying was ... the masks are going to come off and we're going to see who the antisemites are. We're going to see them for who they are. And sure enough it started happening all over," Turnquist said. "It was people that I didn't even think would be antisemites ‒ it was some friends." Nationally, polls have shown that younger Americans are more likely to side with Palestinians than with Israel, including young Jews. And an April 2024 poll by the Pew Research Center found that 31% of Jews younger than 35 felt Hamas' reasons for fighting were valid, compared to just 10% for Jews aged 35 and older. Turnquist said the Sunday marches were deliberately non-political: They didn't call for attacks on Hamas or for more retaliation by Israel. Instead, they focused on the one thing they thought everyone would agree with. To Soliman, that apparently didn't matter. According to investigators, he researched the protest group online, took concealed-weapons classes and planned his attack for a year. Video recordings of the attack captured Soliman shouting "Free Palestine" as he threw Molotov cocktails into the crowd of marchers, setting fire to several victims, including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor. "Mohamed said it was revenge as the Zionist group did not care about thousands of hostages from Palestine," Boulder police wrote in an arrest affidavit. "Mohamed said this had nothing to do with the Jewish community and was specific in the Zionist group supporting the killings of people on his land (Palestine)." Soliman's motivation, as reported by police, mirrored similar language used by the sole member of the Boulder City Council who declined to sign onto a group statement from city leaders condemning the attack. Councilmember Taishya Adams condemned the attack but said she declined to sign the group statement, which identified Soliman's actions as antisemitic, because it didn't specifically note that he was also motivated by what she considers anti-Zionism. "If we are to prevent future violence and additional attacks in our community, I believe we need to be real about the possible motivations for this heinous act," Adams wrote in a statement explaining her decision. "Denying our community the full truth about the attack denies us the ability to fully protect ourselves and each other." Responded Councilmember Mark Wallach: "Your efforts to make what I think is a pedantic distinction as to whether a man who attempted to burn peaceful elderly demonstrators alive − to burn them alive, Taishya − was acting as an antisemite or an anti-Zionist is simply grotesque." Jewish groups in Boulder have previously tangled with Adams over what they say are her own antisemitic remarks regarding Palestine, and pro-Palestinian protesters repeatedly disrupted city council meetings. Adams did not return a request for comment from USA TODAY. On June 5, the first meeting after the attack, the mayor announced that in-person public comment would be prohibited because pro-Palestinian protesters have so often disrupted meetings. Among those who have watched protesters disrupt council meetings was Barbara Steinmetz, a Holocaust survivor burned in the June 1 attack. In a video interview last year, Steinmetz recounted what it was like to attend council meetings alongside pro-Palestinian protesters, including one interaction with a woman carrying a sign referencing "from the river to the sea," the rallying cry of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which called for erasing Israel. "I turned to her and said, 'Do you realize that that means you want to kill me? You want me destroyed?' But she just turned away," Steinmetz said. "Jews in Boulder and maybe Denver and probably in cities all around the world, are afraid of wearing their Jewish stars. They're taking down their mezuzahs so that no one will know that it's a Jewish house. They're not identifying themselves because they're frightened." Soliman's attack didn't happen in a vacuum Rovner, from the University of Denver, said pro-Palestinian college protests helped lay the groundwork for increased violence, in part because many students don't truly appreciate what it means to repeat and thus desensitize the meaning of chants like "globalize the intifada" and declarations that Palestine should run "from the river to the sea." Says the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs: "Calls to 'globalize the intifada' are not calls for civil disobedience, general strikes, or negotiations. They are calls for the murder of Israelis and Jews around the world and must be taken seriously by governments and law enforcement agencies." Like CU-Boulder, the University of Denver was home to an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters last year, and Rovner said there were repeated confrontations between the protesters and Jewish students walking to class. Rovner has a close friend who often participated in the Boulder walks. "These are precisely the kinds of things that cause terrorist groups to pick up weapons to attack people," Rovner said. "When you heighten the rhetoric of hatred and demonize one country and claim to only be opposing an ideology, you are almost inevitably going to see action based on that rhetoric." Jewish scholars and community leaders say the attack on Boulder was frustratingly predictable given the sharp rise in antisemitism sparked by the war in Gaza, with escalating rhetoric, protests and demonstrations nationwide, particularly on college campus and college towns. In response to those warnings, President Donald Trump specifically targeted pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses, launching investigations into 40 campuses that his administration has accused of not doing enough to protect the Jewish community from participants. Security and extremism experts say a significant factor in driving violence is that many protesters draw no distinction between someone who is Jewish and someone who supports Israel's attacks on Hamas in Gaza, which is home to about 2.1 million Palestinians. In April, a man firebombed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's house hours after a Passover celebration, telling police he targeted Shapiro over "what he wants to do to the Palestinian people." And on May 22, a man shot and killed a young couple outside the Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. "Free Palestine," the man shouted. "I did it for Gaza," he later told investigators. "These attacks and many more in recent months ‒ on campus, at Jewish institutions and this time at a peaceful gathering here in Boulder ‒ have targeted people whose only 'offense' is that they are Jewish. Or someone thought they were Jewish. Or they were standing as allies alongside Jews," the Rocky Mountain Anti-Defamation League said in a statement to USA TODAY. A report released last month found that antisemitic incidents across the United States in 2024 hit a record high for the fourth consecutive year. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security on June 5 issued a security alert warning that more antisemitic violence could be coming. "The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict may motivate other violent extremists and hate crime perpetrators with similar grievances to conduct violence against Jewish and Israeli communities and their supporters," the security agencies said in the warning. "Foreign terrorist organizations also may try to exploit narratives related to the conflict to inspire attacks in the United States." Survivor returns to site of the attack Run for their Lives organizers say they remain undeterred as they gear up for this weekend's march. "This didn't happen in a vacuum. It is the result of increasingly normalized hate, dehumanizing rhetoric, and silence in the face of rising antisemitism. But we will not be deterred," Rachel Amaru, the founder of Boulder Run For Their Lives said at a June 4 rally for the victims. "We invite everyone to join us, not just with your feet, but with open hearts and minds. Choose humanity over hate, curiosity over judgment, and learning over condemnation." The day after the attack, Turnquist returned to the scene of the attack to lay flowers and display a small Israeli flag on behalf of her injured friends. Still shaken by the attack just 24 hours earlier, she visibly shook as she recounted her efforts to help the victims. "I woke up this morning and didn't want to get out of bed. I didn't want to get out of bed and didn't want to talk to my friends who were calling me. But this is when we have to get up and stand up, and we have to push back," Turnquist said. And she promised to be back walking every Sunday until all the hostages are home.
