Apr 14, 2025
Assailant ARRESTED For Setting Josh Shapiro's Home Ablaze
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's official residence was allegedly set ablaze by an arsonist on the first day of Passover.
- 10 minutes
Another act
of political violence in America.
You're looking at the burned home
of Pennsylvania Governor
Josh Shapiro and his family,
which was broken into and set ablaze
while the family was asleep last night,
just hours after they celebrated the
Jewish holiday, Passover, two nights ago.
[00:00:15]
I'm sorry.
Hosting guests
in the very room you were just looking at.
Hosting them for the Jewish celebration.
The the very important holiday.
Shapiro has become one of the biggest
names in the Democratic Party,
and is widely considered a potential
candidate for president in 2028.
[00:00:33]
The attacker was arrested on charges
of arson, terrorism and attempted murder.
Shapiro said that he and his sleeping
family were woken up by a police trooper
who banged on our door at around 2 a.m.
Local time, and that they were evacuated
from the building.
He said thank God no one was injured
and the fire was extinguished.
[00:00:50]
Speaking to reporters outside
the residence, a broken window blackened
by the fire visible behind him,
Shapiro made a forceful appeal
for an end to political violence.
Here is some of his statement.
But we do know
that this attack was targeted.
We don't know the person's specific motive
yet, but we do know a few truths.
[00:01:11]
First, this type of violence is not okay.
This kind of violence is becoming
far too common in our society,
and I don't give a damn if it's coming
from one particular side or the other,
[00:01:33]
directed at one particular party
or another,
or one particular person or another.
It is not okay, and it has to stop.
We have to be better than this and we
have a responsibility to all be better.
[00:01:51]
Yeah, that was a very powerful statement.
And then here's a little bit more
where he talked about possible motives.
If this individual was trying to deter me
from doing my job as your governor.
Rest assured I will find a way to work
[00:02:07]
even harder than I was just yesterday
for the good people of Pennsylvania.
Here's a third truth.
If he was trying to terrorize our family,
[00:02:24]
our friends, the Jewish community
who joined us for a Passover Seder
in that room last night.
Hear me on this.
We celebrated our faith last night
proudly, and in a few hours, we will
[00:02:43]
celebrate our second Seder of Passover.
Again, proudly.
No one will deter me or my family
or any Pennsylvanian from celebrating
their faith openly and proudly.
[00:02:59]
Yeah.
Beautiful statement. Very powerful.
And they indeed did have
a beautiful second night
of Passover Seder in their home.
Terrorists, motives be damned.
And just, you know, a personal note.
These are people.
These are people's families.
And that's why political violence
must always be just outright condemned.
[00:03:17]
It just so happens that I'm friends with,
with the governor's daughter.
And thankfully,
she and all of them are okay.
But you don't think when people are
in the news in front of you on television
that they are real people
with real families and real feelings
[00:03:32]
and real emotions, and of course they are.
And we can never lose sight of that.
Apparently, this attacker,
38 year old Cody Ballmer,
was on the property evading police for
several minutes on the property before he
broke the window and then set the house on
fire, according to state police officials.
[00:03:48]
Ballmer allegedly made two Molotov
cocktails from Heineken bottles he had at
home and threw them inside the governor's
mansion after breaking a window with
a hammer, according to court documents.
The fire chief described it as surreal
to see fires shooting
from the governor's residence, he said.
Firefighters had to cut parts of the gates
to stretch hose lines inside,
[00:04:06]
and took about a half hour
to get the fire under control, he added.
There had never been a fire drill
conducted at the governor's mansion.
Luckily, the door from the from
the main dining room
was closed at the time of the blaze.
Keeping the fire from spreading
into the living quarters
had the door not been closed.
[00:04:22]
The Harrisburg Fire Chief,
Brian Enterline, said Shapiro and his
family would no doubt have been at risk.
After turning himself in, Balmer allegedly
told police he would have attacked
Shapiro with a hammer with the hammer
if he had happened upon the governor
inside the residence, the documents said.
[00:04:38]
Top Republicans gave statements
reacting to the attack, with U.S.
Attorney General Pam Bondi posting on X
that she was, quote, deeply relieved that
Governor Shapiro and his family are safe.
Vice president J.D.
Vance said this incident was, quote,
really disgusting violence
and that he hopes, quote, whoever did this
is brought swiftly to justice.
[00:04:55]
President Donald Trump, however, when
asked about the attack Sunday night while
returning to Washington aboard Air Force
One, said he had just heard about it.
Doesn't mean you can't condemn it
or send your thoughts, Mr. President,
but he had just heard about it.
The others heard about it quicker
because they're not the president
[00:05:11]
who should be abreast of everything.
Then today, during a meeting
at the white House with El Salvador's
President, Trump was asked if he heard
about a possible motive?
And here's how, he replied.
The attacker was not a fan of Trump,
I understand.
Just from what I read
and from what I've been told, the attacker
[00:05:27]
basically wasn't a fan of anybody.
It's probably just a whack job,
and certainly a thing like that
cannot be allowed to happen.
It's about himself once again.
The suspect is currently in a hospital
getting treatment for a medical event
not related to this incident,
reminding us that in America,
[00:05:44]
even people who do bad things,
even people who admit to their crimes, are
still treated ethically and with care and
given due process, because that is what
separates us from them, and supposedly
from many other nations as well.
Just hours before the fire,
the Pennsylvania governor posted a picture
[00:06:02]
of his family's Passover Seder on X,
writing from the Shapiro
family Seder table to yours Happy Passover
and hug Pesach Sameach.
Really, really scary.
Thank God it wasn't much worse.
Yeah.
So first of all, I'm tired
about the of the what about isms?
[00:06:20]
So as all these things turn political,
right.
So you say, hey, I hope to God
that nobody ever does anything
like this to Governor Shapiro.
This is crazy, right?
And then some people will say,
yeah, well, what about the Trump
assassination attempts?
Yeah, those were also terrible.
And then the other side will say, what
about the Nancy Pelosi's husband attack?
[00:06:39]
They're all terrible.
We don't have to say
what about what about back and forth.
Let's all sides. Left.
Right.
I don't know if it involves anti-Semitism,
but certainly if it does that 100%,
[00:06:54]
we should all be against that.
It's it's not, it's not.
This was not a hard or complicated at all.
The thing with Trump is so maddening, man.
This is such a layup.
This doesn't have to be controversial.
My God, if somebody lit
Sarah Huckabee Sanders home on fire,
she's the governor of Arkansas.
[00:07:10]
Obviously, Republican used to be
the spokesperson for Trump.
I'd be horrified.
Oh my God, she's got kids
and she's a human being.
What are you are you is. This is nuts.
What are we doing here?
What are we doing here?
So if our politics devolve to this,
then we're screwed.
[00:07:28]
I mean, that's supposed to be
one of the great parts of America that we
battle in the marketplace of ideas.
We allow for freedom of speech so that we
can debate and argue over anything.
But if it spills over
to physical violence, we're doomed.
So I can't stand this.
And I like Governor Shapiro a lot.
[00:07:46]
He's one of my favorite, you know,
Democrats to to replace Biden.
If he had replaced Biden,
I think he probably would have won.
But that's not the direction that it went.
But it doesn't matter
how much I like him or don't like him,
it doesn't matter if he's a Democrat or
a Republican or what his point of view on
[00:08:03]
any particular issue is totally, utterly
unacceptable on all sides, in every form.
Stop burning Teslas, whatever the hell,
whatever the hell was doing that?
How does that help?
How does that help?
Stop burning anything and everything.
[00:08:18]
Stop.
Right. And that's.
Look, if you say, hey, Jake,
how's that going to help?
Right. These guys are crazy.
I don't know, maybe they listen to some
media, maybe all of right wing media and
all of left wing media and and mainstream
media all said, cut the crap out.
[00:08:34]
Don't ever do violence. Don't ever do it.
If you do, you're not one of us.
You're a wacko. And and you know.
And you should be shunned
in every imaginable way.
But yes, unfortunately, sometimes some
people on whatever sides go, well,
[00:08:50]
if our guy does it, is it really that bad?
So why did Trump pause there on hey,
the governor's house was lit on fire
and when they caught the guy.
So there's a guy, right?
It's okay. You don't know his motive.
So easy to condemn, right?
But what if he condemns?
[00:09:08]
But then later he wants to make fun of it
like he did with the Pelosi thing
and like, oh, yeah, well,
maybe it was his gay lover.
I don't do that.
Don't. Come on, guys.
Bounds of decency Jesus Christ.
And so I love his attitude.
[00:09:24]
I love that they did the second night
of Passover and they did it in the home.
That's exactly what you do.
You don't do it somewhere else.
You don't run.
You don't run from any of these fights.
You stand your ground and and and practice
your faith and, and and do all the things
[00:09:39]
that you need to do.
All right.
Last thing is that, I,
we don't know yet why the guy did it,
but it doesn't really matter, right?
Because they're unbalanced.
They're unfreaking balanced.
So why did the guy attack
Pelosi's husband with a hammer?
[00:09:55]
Because he's a loon.
He's, No sane person attacks anyone with a
hammer or tries to burn down their house.
So that's what unites them.
Shockingly, they didn't use a weapon,
so thank God.
And of course, what's Trump's reaction
even after he's had a chance to absorb it?
[00:10:12]
What did he say? Was it a fan of Trump?
Oh, great.
That's the most important thing.
Okay. Oh, thank God it's not about you.
Jesus Christ, man.
He has no ability to have empathy. None.
It's amazing.
Every time you ring the bell below,
an angel gets his wings.
[00:10:30]
Totally not true.
But it does keep you updated
on our live shows.
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