(Matt Rourke/Associated Press)
Early this morning, Pennsylvania's Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were evacuated from the Governor's residence in Harrisburg after a fire was deliberately set.
No one was injured in the incident and Pennsylvania State Police subsequently apprehended a 38-year-old man from Harrisburg named Cody Balmer who was found with incendiary devices in his possession.
At this point, Balmer has yet to be arraigned. His motives are not yet known.
However, I don't think we can discount the possibility that the suspect's actions may have been motivated by anti-Semitism.
The last post Governor Shapiro made on X was an image of his family's Passover Seder table.
If this was indeed the motivation, is Balmer a white supremacist or a pro-Hamas sympathizer?
Of course, there is a possibility that Balmer's alleged actions weren't motivated by anti-Semitism. He could be angry at Shapiro for some other reason.
There is also the possibility of mental illness. The attack did make me think of the 1995 break-in at then Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien's residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa during which the assailant was confronted by his wife Aline. While Andre Dallaire was found guilty of attempted murder, he was not held criminally responsible due to his mental condition.
Nevertheless, given the increased incidents of anti-Semitism in this country over the past 18 months or so, the fact that Governor Shapiro is Jewish and that this took place only hours after the beginning of Passover, the possibility this attack was motivated by anti-Semitism cannot be discounted.
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