A 38-year-old man from Harrisburg, accused of attempting to murder the governor of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro, told the authorities that he hated a democrat so much that he “defeated him with a hammer” if he found him early Sunday morning.
But if the policy fueled the hatred of Cody Balmer, it was not obvious to his registration of voters – he was not associated with any political party – or in his public digital trace.
Balmer settled as a “mechanic master” on his Facebook profile, where he repeatedly wrote about the apply of drugs, problems related to relationships and the fight for parenting, along with memes conducting political spectrum. Other public entries also indicate a turbulent life, including a number of runs with the law.
The suspect is hospitalized “due to a medical incident not related to this incident or his arrest”, according to the state police. His accusation was postponed.
Mother Balmer, Christie, said The Associated Press that her son had bipolar disease and schizophrenia, and did not take his medicine. She told journalists that she had tried to get mental support in recent days. Inquirer was unable to verify this information.
Balmer went for an hour to the governor’s residence, where he avoided the State Police and security assigned to Shapiro, scaling the fence and hacking the governor’s residence, in accordance with the statement of the state police. He lit a bottle of Heineken beer filled with gasoline in a piano room, going to the dining room. According to the authorities, he was there for about a minute. Pictures made available by the Police of the dining room show extensive damage, which, the head of the fire brigade in Harrisburg, Brian Enterline, can cost millions of dollars on Monday, taking into account the historical nature of the building.
Shapiro hosted Pascher Seder with his family last night, and the initial call reporting fire said that there were as many as 25 people at the time of fire. If the key door at the house were not closed, Enterline said that the fire “would definitely spread” the corridor and to the main stairs to the second floor.
Before Balmer stopped publicly publishing on Facebook in the summer of 2023, he repeatedly published anti -government moods and memes that seemed to be in violent deeds.
One photo is a crocheted Molotov cocktail that sounds “be the light you want to see in the world.” Another has Anarcho-Communist Meme depicting the aged from the Gi Joe cartoon, announcing that “knowledge of half the battle, the other half is extreme violence.”
In another photo published on Facebook, Balmer shows that the gun is directed to the camera.
Despite this, it is complex to carefully place a man accused of establishing three fires with “Molotov cocktails” in the governor’s residence early on Sunday morning in a political spectrum.
Some posts took a stab at the former president Joe Biden, including a custom meme, which sounds “Biden owns me 2 Grand” – reference to Covid-19 support controls promised during the 2020 campaign. In another post he wrote: “Biden supporters should not exist.”
Although Balmer published a meme with a quote from the conservative economist Thomas Sowell, he rarely mentioned President Donald Trump. In the post in 2021, commenting that gas prices were lower during the first Trump administration, he noticed: “I don’t [sic] Play your favorite, especially since everyone sucks. “
Balmer also supported in other memes conducive to former presidential candidates Andrew Yang, Tulsi Gabbard and Ron Paul.
Together with a series of citations of the movement, Balmer pleaded guilty for the program covering forged documents and was sentenced to 18 months of a trial. In 2023 he was arrested and accused of an assault. This matter is pending.
The notification of the sale of the sheriff in 2022 shows the property in which Balmer was previously registered to vote, was put up for the sale of exclusion. Documents of the Dauphin Flacity show that Balmer has been in court many times over the battles of his children’s care, recently in 2023.
It seems that Balmer has left employment for auto-shop in Harrisburg, where he has long worked in the same year.
More or less in time He stopped working in a car mechanics storeWho, as the owner said on Monday, was a “mutual” decision, it seems that Balmer has stopped using social media.
According to the criminal complaint, Balmer confessed to the “former paramur”, asking her to call the police Report him what she did. Then Balmer turned on Sunday afternoon.
The arson took place during the first night of Passover. State police are still investigating the Balmer motif, including as a potential hate crime.
. AssoPress Comated contributed to this report.
