Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro said on Tuesday that the arson attack on his home earlier this year had “left emotional scars” while calling for leaders to recognize that political violence is not a one-sided problem.
Shapiro talked about the arson attack and political violence at this week’s Eradicate Hate summit in Pittsburgh, designed to discuss tools and action that can prevent and confront violence.
Shapiro ran through a list of acts of targeted violence in the past year, including the assassination attempt of Donald Trump, the killing of United Healthcare’s CEO, the gunman who killed Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The one common thread, he said, was “people using violence to settle political differences”.
“Leaders have a responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity – and as I have made clear time and time again, this type of violence has no place in our society, regardless of what motivates it, who pulls the trigger, who throws the Molotov cocktail, or who wields the weapon,” he said.
People have a responsibility to be “clear and unequivocal” in calling out all forms of political violence. He chided those who have celebrated political violence against their opponents and those who have called for revenge in the wake of it.
“Unfortunately, some the dark corners of the Internet all the way to the Oval Office want to cherry pick which instances of political violence they want to condemn,” he said. “Doing that only further divides us and it makes it harder to heal. There are some who will hear that selective condemnation and take it as a permission slip to commit more violence, so long as it suits their narrative or only targets the other side.”
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, the Trump administration has said it will go after left-leaning organizations, declaring without evidence that they were somehow tied to the shooting.
Shapiro said these acts of vengeance will deepen the divide and that using the government to censor people and “silence people, silence businesses and nonprofits and restrict their right to free speech” will only deepen mistrust.
The governor also detailed his own first-hand experience with political violence. In April, on Passover, a man set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion while Shapiro, his wife and kids were inside. Shapiro said that he woke up to a bang on the door – a state trooper telling him to evacuate because there was a fire. He and his wife grabbed their kids, dogs and other family members who had gathered at the home for seder hours earlier in the room the arsonist set ablaze with Molotov cocktails. The man had a metal hammer that he later said he had planned to use to kill Shapiro if he found him, Shapiro said.
Cody Balmer was charged by police for terrorism, attempted murder and other charges associated with the attack. Police say Balmer was allegedly motivated by “perceived injustices toward the people of Palestine”. Shapiro is Jewish.
Shapiro said he thanks God every day that his family was able to evacuate safely and no one was injured or killed.
“That doesn’t mean that the attack hasn’t left emotional scars,” Shapiro said. “I can attest to that, especially as a father, a father to four children, knowing that my life choices put them at risk.”
He called the rise in political violence dangerous because it not only seeks to injure or kill opponents but to intimidate people into silence.
“I’m here today to tell you that I will not be deterred in my work on behalf of the good people of Pennsylvania and I sure as heck will not be silenced,” he said.
