
Pennsylvania governor details arson attack on his home after Passover Seder
Pennsylvania's governor, Josh Shapiro, has for the first time revealed details of the April arson attack against his residence, describing shattered windows, melted furniture and artwork 'disintegrated into walls' after an intruder firebombed his family home following their Passover celebration.
'Windows were smashed in, and there was glass everywhere. Some tables were turned over, and others had just melted away,' Shapiro wrote in an essay in The New York Times on Wednesday. 'The devastation was shocking, and to me, it did not appear to be an accident. The damage was too extreme. It looked like a bomb had gone off in the middle of our home.'
The Democratic governor recounted being awakened at 2am by a state trooper banging on their door, telling the family they needed to evacuate immediately. Shapiro and his wife rushed to gather their children and dogs before fleeing down a back stairwell to safety.
When allowed back inside to view the damage, Shapiro saw an eerily quiet scene with water dripping from the ceiling and his feet 'sloshing on the soaked floor'. He said the state dining room, where the family had hosted their Seder just hours before, was unrecognizable.
'Artwork from the New Deal era that had hung on display for visitors to enjoy had disintegrated into the walls,' he wrote. 'Plates we had eaten our Seder dinner on were broken and covered in soot. The Haggadah — our prayer book for the Seder — was burned so badly, only a few short lines of text were recognizable.'
According to authorities, 38-year-old Cody Balmer allegedly scaled a fence, broke windows with a hammer and used homemade Molotov cocktails fashioned from Heineken bottles filled with gasoline to set multiple fires in the mansion. Police said surveillance footage captured Balmer breaking in and fleeing the scene.
Balmer was arrested the same day after allegedly confessing to an ex-girlfriend. During questioning, he reportedly admitted 'harboring hatred' toward Shapiro and told investigators he would have attacked the governor with a hammer had he encountered him.
The suspect faces multiple charges including attempted murder, terrorism, and aggravated arson. He was denied bail at his initial court appearance and could face additional federal charges.
In his essay, Shapiro explained that hours after the suspect's arrest, his family proceeded with their second planned Passover Seder, saying how the attack would not deter him from his duties or from practicing his faith 'openly and proudly'.
The governor told reporters on Tuesday that Donald Trump had called him a few days after the attack to check on his family, saying the president 'was very gracious'.
His essay concluded with a plea to address political violence in the country, writing: 'this level of violence has to stop. It is our shared responsibility to do better.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


NBC News
3 hours ago
- NBC News
After a boost from Trump, Jack Ciattarelli pivots in the New Jersey governor's race
DOVER, N.J. — Republican Jack Ciattarelli won Tuesday's primary for governor in New Jersey in part by touting President Donald Trump's endorsement. But the former state legislator is now looking to make his campaign against Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill about a different executive. Ciattarelli name-checked Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy's administration five times in the course of a nearly 7-minute interview with NBC News at a Colombian bakery here on Wednesday. He only mentioned Trump's name once, when prompted, and went on to call Sherrill 'out of touch' with key state issues like affordability, education and immigration policies, suggesting she would be an extension of Murphy's administration if she wins the governorship. 'This race is all about New Jersey,' Ciattarelli said. 'My opponent is going to want to talk about Donald Trump every day of the week, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security — by the way, the way to save those programs is by getting rid of the fraud. I've got to hit the reset button here in New Jersey come January. We're going to keep the focus on New Jersey.' 'What people want to hear about [is] what are we doing about property taxes? What are we doing about public education? What are we doing about our infrastructure? What are we doing about the lawlessness? What are we doing about the over development? What are we doing about the cost of electricity? Those are all the failures of the Murphy administration. Mikie Sherrill has supported every one of his policies,' Ciattarelli added. Ciattarelli's focus on Murphy comes as he is trying to win over independent voters and disaffected Democrats in the traditionally blue state. Trump significantly improved on his margin last year compared to 2020, but he still lost New Jersey by 6 points. Ciattarelli called out those voters in his victory speech Tuesday night, and on Wednesday he laid out how he plans to win them over. 'They've had it, as have I,' Ciattarelli said. 'They've had it with sanctuary cities. They've had it with us being a sanctuary state. They've had it with our property taxes. We saw what went on on our Jersey Shore over the Memorial Day weekend, flash mobs, because we don't support our local police. It's across the board. Look what's happened in education. We just slipped from two to 12 on the national report card because of the performance or lack thereof of our students.' Ciattarelli is, of course, still linked to Trump, who endorsed him and helped consolidate Republican primary voters behind him, helping fuel his resounding re-nomination. On Tuesday night at a victory party in Holmdel, New Jersey, voters who spoke to NBC News emphasized Trump's endorsement as having 'sealed the deal' for them. 'If he continues with Trump and doesn't become like one of them RINOs [Republican In Name Only], if he continues going the right path, I think he's going to do great,' one supporter said. On Wednesday, Ciattarelli said Trump is 'really excited about the possibilities here in New Jersey. There's an opportunity for us to win this year, and that's exactly what we're going to do.' Sherrill suggested in her primary victory speech Tuesday night that she plans to tie Ciattarelli to the president, referring to her opponent as a 'Trump lackey.' 'This country is too beautiful to be beholden to the cruelty and self interest that Jack and Trump are trying to hoist on her,' Sherrill said. For his part, Ciattarelli has been hesitant to publicly break with the president. The Republican told NBC News that he supports Trump's decision to federalize California's National Guard troops to respond to protests in Los Angeles against immigration raids, despite objections from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. 'The first job of any elected official is public health and safety. If they feel the National Guard is needed, why not? I think our local police and our state police would welcome the National Guard here to help them,' Ciattarelli said. Sherrill wrote in an X post on Sunday that the Trump administration's move was 'a dangerous stunt designed to inflame divisions and further a political agenda' and that it was 'disturbing' to see Ciattarelli applauding the decision. 'I think it's a dangerous situation to put military on the streets of this country, trained in combat, as opposed to the police officers who know how to handle this,' Sherrill told reporters after casting her primary ballot on Tuesday, noting a governor can ask the federal government for support. 'That is not the case here,' Sherrill said. 'Governor Newsom surged law enforcement in and what Trump seems to be doing is trying to add fuel to the fire and really make a situation violent and bad. And I just think that's completely unacceptable.' Immigration is expected to be a top issue in the governor's race, with around 1 in 4 New Jersey residents born in another country, according to census data. The first of several Ciattarelli campaign events on Wednesday took place in a predominantly Latino area in Sherrill's congressional district. 'Immigrants that are here legally want to achieve the American dream, and too many people right now don't feel like they can do that here in New Jersey,' Ciattarelli said. 'Whether it's get the job of their dreams, get the education they want, raise a family, start a business, retire here, those are all the things that people are terribly insecure about.' 'Those are all the failures of the Murphy administration,' Ciattarelli added. Ciattarelli, who lost a close race against Murphy in 2021, said that this year is going to be different, in part because the state is not in the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic. 'I thought we were going to win in '21, but I know we're going to win this race. The political landscape is very different,' Ciatterelli said. 'I'm not competing with a pandemic or a shelter-in-place order. I'm not going up against an incumbent. I'm going up against somebody who's totally out of touch with what it is that really matters and bothers New Jersey.'


NBC News
3 hours ago
- NBC News
How New Jersey's Democratic primary played out on each candidate's home turf
Rep. Mikie Sherrill's Democratic primary win Tuesday concluded one of the more crowded competitive primary fields in recent memory. The six-candidate field for governor included two sitting Congress members (Sherrill and Rep. Josh Gottheimer), two current mayors (Newark's Ras Baraka and Jersey City's Steven Fulop), one former mayor (Montclair's Sean Spiller) and one former state senator (Steve Sweeney). Nearly all touted their home advantages as their key to the statewide nomination. With the results near complete, here's a look at how the candidates fared on their home turf. Newark Candidate: Ras Baraka Result: Baraka +61 Baraka has represented New Jersey's largest city for more than a decade as its mayor. Prior to his time as mayor, the Newark native served on the Newark municipal council and as a school principal in the city. Baraka had a dominant showing in his hometown — but the turnout rate in Newark was short of nearby towns. Overall, Baraka outpaced Sherrill in Newark 73%-12%. But in the remainder of Essex County outside of Newark, Sherrill beat Baraka 39%-33%. Candidate: Steven Fulop Fulop, like Baraka, has spent over a decade representing his highly populous city. He spent time as a member of the Jersey City Council for eight years before that. Fulop spent the campaign fighting Baraka for the progressive label in the primary and outpaced him by just 5 points in his home city. Bergen County Candidate: Josh Gottheimer Gottheimer represents New Jersey's 5th Congressional District covering parts of Bergen, Sussex and Passaic counties. Bergen County is the most populous part and heart of his district. Gottheimer posted competitive numbers in Bergen and Sussex but was unable to earn substantial support outside his home zone. Montclair Candidate: Sean Spiller While Spiller is currently the head of the New Jersey Education Association, the state's biggest teachers union, he spent a decade in Montclair as a councilman and mayor. Spiller's time in office apparently hasn't resonated positively with current residents. Spiller was trounced in Montclair, far outpaced by Sherrill — who lives here as well. Morris County Candidate: Mikie Sherrill Sherrill hails from Montclair in Essex County and represents the area in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District. But it's Morris County that makes up more than half her district. And the heart of Sherrill's congressional constituency is where she posted her best county performance of the night. Gloucester County Candidate: Steve Sweeney Result: Sweeney +18 The only candidate hailing from South Jersey, Sweeney is a longtime politician serving as a Gloucester County commissioner and state senator representing the county and its neighbors. His theory of the primary led with a strong show of force in South Jersey. While he did better in his home county, across the eight counties that comprise South Jersey, Sweeney placed second to Sherrill 28%-21%. In North Jersey, however, Sweeney was last among the six candidates, earning 2% of the vote.


NBC News
5 hours ago
- NBC News
Steve Kornacki: The Trump factor looms over New Jersey's newly set race for governor
The matchup for New Jersey's gubernatorial election is set, but looming over the contest will be a name that won't be on any ballot: Donald Trump. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who secured the Democratic nomination in Tuesday's primary, is already running ads that attack Republican Jack Ciattarelli for his ties to the president. Ciattarelli, who was also the GOP's nominee in 2021, romped to victory in his party's primary after successfully cultivating Trump's support. In focusing on Trump, Democrats have history on their side. New Jersey voters have a strong tendency to elect governors from the party that doesn't control the White House. This has been the case in all but two races over the past four decades. Plus, Democrats have run this playbook successfully in New Jersey before. Eight years ago, during Trump's first term, Gov. Phil Murphy scored a 14-point win over Republican Kim Guadagno. Murphy had sought to tie Guadagno to Trump, whose approval rating in New Jersey that fall stood at just 33%. (Murphy was also aided by the cratering popularity of outgoing Republican Gov. Chris Christie.) Republicans are counting on the Trump factor playing differently this time around. And, at least for now, there are some key variables they can point to with optimism. One is the result of last year's presidential race, when Trump lost New Jersey by 6 points to Kamala Harris. That was a far cry from his 16-point loss in 2020 and his 14-point defeat in 2016. From the outset of the 2017 gubernatorial race, it was obvious that Trump would be a major electoral liability for the GOP. That's not as clear this time around. In fact, a PIX11/Emerson College poll conducted a few weeks ago showed Trump with a 47% job approval rating in New Jersey. That's far higher than he fared during the 2017 campaign, or for that matter, at any point during his first term. It's also higher than the 40% approval rating for Murphy, who is term-limited and provides Ciattarelli with his own opportunity to tie his opponent to an unpopular leader. That said, there hasn't been any polling in the state since mid-May. It's possible Trump's standing has shifted in response to the unrest in Los Angeles. It's also possible it will shift for other reasons between now and November. For now, though, it appears to be in a different place than in 2017. A key question is whether Trump's improved performance in New Jersey last year signals a broader shift in the electorate away from the Democrats and toward the GOP. His gains came heavily from nonwhite voters, particularly Hispanics and Asian Americans, mirroring what happened nationally. But many of these voters had either not voted before or had done so infrequently. Did they come out only because of Trump himself or are they converts to the GOP as a whole? The early indicators from elections this year have not been very encouraging for Republicans, who have suffered a series of defeats amid high participation from Democratic-friendly demographics that Republicans haven't been able to match. But those off-year elections have been relatively low-wattage affairs. New Jersey's gubernatorial race will attract much more interest and overall turnout, giving the GOP a better shot at leveling the playing field. Republicans can take some heart from voter registration statistics. Since last November, the number of registered Republicans in the state has remained flat, while Democrats have shed just over 60,000 enrollees. This is a reversal from 2017, when Democrats were outpacing Republicans in new registrations. There's also some history Republicans can point to. Democrats have controlled the New Jersey governorship for two consecutive terms now, with Sherrill seeking to make it three in a row. This is the sixth time since 1981 that a party has tried for a third straight term. In the previous cases, they all failed to win it.