On Thursday, the leader of the Senate minority Senate (D., NY) called the Department of Justice to examine whether an attempt to set fire to early morning at the official place of residence of Josh Shapiro government last weekend was a hate crime.
IN Letter to the US prosecutor general Pam Bondi After an attack in Harrisburg, Schumer called on the federal government to “everything in its power to strive for justice and maintain the basic values ​​of religious freedom and public security.”
The authorities have not yet announced the theme of the attack, and Shapiro himself believed that he did not speculate, Expressing trust in local prosecutors and any accusations that they consider to be appropriate.
“As for Senator Schumer or anyone else, I do not think that it was helpful for people outside who did not see evidence who do not know what happened, who use their own points of view on the situation, in this way,” Shapiro told journalists on Thursday. “My trust is with the prosecutor to make a decision.”
38 -year -old Cody Balmer was accused of attempting to murder, terrorism and other sedate crimes related to trying to kill Governor Pennsylvania. At the beginning on Sunday, the police said that he had passed an hour to reach the residence of the Governor in Harrisburg, then scaled the fence, bypassing detailed information about Shapiro’s safety and setting three fires at home from escaping. Shapiro and his family were in the residence, sleeping after they just hosted Passover on Saturday evening and were evacuated. Balmer devoted himself to the police on Sunday.
»Read more: Pa. A man accused of trying to kill the governor Josh Shapiro told the police that he hated him and defeated him
According to the police in Penbrook, Dauphin, Balmer’s mother contacted the authorities three days before setting on fire, reporting her son as “irritable and moved” and said that she was worried that she had no drugs for about a year. Since then, she told the media that her son was living with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
In his letter to Bondi, Schumer referred to Balmer’s conversations with the Dauphin 911 Flamestry less than an hour after he allegedly set fire to the fires.
In the case, the fragments of which were included in the search orders made on Tuesday, Balmer told dispatchers that the governor must be said that “he would not take part in his plans, what he wants to do with the Palestinian nation.”
“According to the order, our people were too much by this monster,” Balmer said on the phone, adding that “he has everything that has a banquet hall to clean.”
In subsequent interviews, Balmer would tell the police that he “lived hatred” for Shapiro and beat him with a hammer if he met him in the residence.
“These statements – in combination with the date of the attack during Passover, a visible hug of his Jewish faith Shapiro Governor and the context of the growing anti -Semitism around the world and all over the country – arouse serious concerns about anti -Semitic motivation,” wrote Schumer.
Shapiro, one of the most outstanding selected Jewish officials in the country, avoided speculation about the Balmer motif, although he repeated many times that he would not allow him to stop him from performing work as a governor or “proud and opening the exercise” of his faith.
Fran Chardo, District Prosecutor of Dauphin, said that he did not rule out that Balmer could aim at Shapiro because of his faith. But Chardo said on Wednesday that at least any potential element of hatred is a key part of the matter of the county against Balmer, it is unlikely that he would be accused of ethnic intimidation because it would not affect the final punishment. Balmer stands up 100 years in prison based on current allegations against him.
“Our federal authorities must bring the full importance of our civil rights in the examination of this case,” wrote Schumer, referring to some earlier Chardo comments about the potential Balmer motif. “No person or public official should be directed because of his faith and no community wondered if such activities met with Cisa.”
Shapiro repeated his confidence in Chardo on Thursday, adding that he did not intend to question his judgment and trusted his ability to analyze evidence, the application of law and “accusing this case, as he considers appropriate.”
“If the Department of Justice decides to lodge allegations, I will also respect their decision about it,” said Shapiro.
The Department of Justice did not immediately answer at the request for comment on Thursday.
Over the past decade, Balmer has stood in the face of criminal charges, including assault and forgery, as well as traffic -related crimes. His presence in social media on Facebook suggested that he had no loyalty to a specific political party or hatred of specific groups, publishing mainly about the exploit of drugs and problems related to relationships and memes in the entire political spectrum.
In 2023, Balmer was accused of three cases of a elementary robbery in the case of Dauphin in the case. In 2016, he pleaded guilty for one forgery crime and was sentenced to 18 months of suspension.
A few hours after the incident, Shapiro told journalists that the federal authorities support the state police in the investigation and that he talked to the director of the FBI Kash Patel. The FBI office in Philadelphia confirmed on Monday that it helps the state police in investigation.
An investigation is underway regarding the State Police attack. The agency has established cooperation with an expert on the third side in order to conduct an independent security review, which will include the “risk assessment and susceptibility” of the residence, because the General Services Department in Pennsylvania focuses on restoring the property.
The governor’s apartment is usually open to trips, but they were suspended as a result of fires that affected the state dining room and piano room. According to the Department of General Services, living rooms and the working area in the residence will be re -opened “within a few days”. Shapiro said that the residence would continue to keep an Easter egg roll next week.
