Plagued by legal woes, alleged Shapiro attacker espoused murky political views

The Harrisburg man charged with setting fire to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s official residence Sunday had a turbulent life marked by other legal troubles, public records show. 

Cody Balmer, 38, was originally scheduled to appear in court this week to answer simple assault charges stemming from a 2023 domestic assault. It involved an altercation with his former wife and stepson after Balmer had attempted suicide by taking a bottle of pills, he told police according to court records.

Although the latest accusations against Balmer bear the hallmarks of a religiously motivated crime, an expert on extremism said the man’s online footprint shows no immediate indication of ties to extremist groups or ideology. 

“One definitely has to consider that he firebombed a Jewish governor’s residence on Passover. I don’t think that can be ignored,” said Luke Baumgartner, research fellow at the George Washington University Program on Extremism. “Until more robust reporting or more detailed court documents come forward, nothing is really off the table right now.”

Balmer is charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, terrorism, aggravated assault and related offenses. He was arraigned in district court Monday afternoon where he pleaded not guilty and District Judge Dale Klein denied Balmer’s attorney’s request for reasonable bail, citing a danger to the community if he were released. 

Authorities said Balmer scaled the fence at the governor’s residence in downtown Harrisburg shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday and evaded state troopers on Shapiro’s security detail after he was detected on the grounds. State police allege Balmer broke a window and threw a Molotov cocktail into the ground floor of the residence before breaking a second window and entering the ceremonial dining room, where he used a second incendiary to set it ablaze.

Balmer escaped after starting the fire, but turned himself in at state police headquarters later Sunday. He told investigators he harbored hatred toward Shapiro and that if Balmer had encountered Shapiro inside the home he would have attacked the governor  with a hammer he carried.

In a news conference Sunday afternoon, Shapiro noted he had celebrated the first night of Passover with his family and guests in that room hours before they were awakened by a trooper and directed to evacuate. A steely voiced Shapiro vowed the act of violence would not deter him from doing his job to represent Pennsylvanians or to proudly observe his Jewish faith.

Balmer’s Facebook profile shows he’s a father who worked as an auto mechanic, although a former employer distanced itself from Balmer in a social media post saying he had not worked there in more than two years. 

His mother Christie Balmer told CBS news that her son struggled with mental illness and had not been taking his psychiatric medication. Balmer said in court Monday that he had been living with his parents for the past year. 

“This would have never happened if I could have gotten some help the middle of last week because I tried to get him picked up [by police] … and I went through four police departments and I couldn’t get anybody to help,” she said.

“So he was mentally ill, went off his meds, and this is what happened,” she said. Balmer said in court that he had been off his medication because it “led me to different types of behavior,” but he did not elaborate.

Attempts by the Capital-Star to reach Christie Balmer and other relatives at numbers listed in public records were unsuccessful.

Although Balmer denied being mentally ill during his court appearance, Dauphin County court records suggest Balmer had experienced mental health issues several years prior.

In a criminal complaint from January 2023, police said they were called to Balmer’s home in Penbrook, outside Harrisburg, by a child who reported his stepfather was beating his mother. When police arrived, Balmer’s wife Adrian Jones was outside the home crying and yelling about Balmer having assaulted her. 

He told police he had taken a bottle full of pills in an attempt to kill himself and an argument between himself and his wife escalated to the point that his stepson attempted to intervene. Balmer admitted shoving his son and a physical altercation between all three followed. 

Jones said Balmer struck her in the face, bit her hand and struck their 13- and 10-year-old sons. He was charged with three misdemeanor counts of simple assault and was scheduled to appear Wednesday at a plea hearing in Harrisburg, court records say.

Balmer was also charged in 2015 after attempting to cash a forged paycheck for $3,560 at two separate M&T Bank branches on the same day. He pleaded guilty to forgery and was sentenced to 18 months of probation. 

Court records show Balmer’s former home in Penbrook was subject to foreclosure proceedings and a sheriff’s sale in 2023. He and Jones also reached an agreement in 2023 for the custody of their daughters in which Balmer received primary physical custody.

Balmer’s Facebook posts delve into politics, but provide no clear evidence of his allegiances. Dauphin County voter registration records show he chose not to be affiliated with any party.

Baumgartner, the extremism researcher at George Washington University, said social media is often used to assess ideological leanings of a suspect in a high profile crime, but cautioned that the initial readings don’t give a full picture. 

He noted that Thomas Matthew Crooks, whom the FBI identified as the gunman who fired at now-President Donald Trump during a July campaign rally, killing a supporter and injuring two others, initially appeared to have no extreme ideological leanings. The FBI later said a social media account believed to belong to Crooks espoused political violence and anti-immigrant and anti-semitic sentiments.

Many of Balmer’s more recent posts are marked private or have been deleted and no posts more recent than the summer of 2023 were visible Sunday. Those that are available include videos from conservative former Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, now director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration, and former Libertarian U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

His posts express opposition to former President Joe Biden, President Donald Trump, the GOP and the Democratic Party. He also posted memes critical of the COVID-19 pandemic response, suggesting that the media and government overreacted and taking pride in disobeying lockdown orders.

Other posts suggest an inclination toward political violence or crime. One post from 2022 shows a needlepoint hoop with a flaming Molotov cocktail and the words “Be the light you want to see in the world.”

Another theme among his posts are memes with misogynistic and degrading messages about women and male erasure. “Toxic women destroy good men too, but we barely talk about that,” one post says.

There was also at least one post praising a man who was arrested after allegedly hitting dozens of women and another depicting former comedian Bill Cosby suggesting that women he was convicted (and later cleared) of assaulting were promiscuous before he allegedly drugged them. 

Baumgartner said misogyny is often an underlying motivation in far-right extremism, but Balmer doesn’t appear to fit neatly into any ideological category and seems to draw from several. He also expressed opposition to racism and endorsed many traditionally liberal values.

“I didn’t see anything that is indicative of any extremist ideology,” Baumgartner said. “For the most part, it was just sort of run-of-the-mill, ‘I don’t like either party’ content.’”