If the motive behind the attack against Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro over the weekend is still a mystery. Why? It appears that suspect Cody Balmer is telling law enforcement everything else. Why not the motive?
According to AP:
A man who authorities said scaled an iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluded police and broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion where he set a fire had planned to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a hammer if he found him, according to court documents released Monday.
The fire left significant damage and forced Shapiro, his family and guests to evacuate the building early Sunday. The man, arrested later in the day, faces charges including attempted homicide, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault, authorities said.
During a police interview, authorities said Cody Balmer told them after he was taken into custody that he would have beaten Shapiro with a small sledge hammer if he had found him, the documents say. Balmer had walked an hour from his home to the governor’s residence, and during the police interview, “Balmer admitted to harboring hatred towards Governor Shapiro,” according to a police affidavit, but it wasn’t noted why.
