While Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and his family slept after celebrating the Seder, a solemn Passover meal, at their home early Sunday morning, a man broke into their residence and tried to set it ablaze using gasoline from a lawnmower. That attacker, state authorities now believe, was Cody Balmer, 38, who has now been charged with terrorism, attempted murder and arson.
Had he not been apprehended by state police, Balmer reportedly said he would have bludgeoned Gov. Shapiro to death with a hammer.
Coming just one week after a Maine man approached a plainclothes Federal agent at a Bridgton restaurant on April 5 and announced his intention to kill U.S. President Donald Trump, the specter of rising political violence has been a familiar theme in American news coverage. What type of people are most likely to resort to such extremism, many wonder.
[RELATED: Maine Weirdo Who Said He Wanted to Kill Trump Fits Troubling Pattern of Trending Political Violence]
Balmer has a troubled past, and his social media history suggests he considers himself both an anarchist and a registered Socialist. His criminal record includes past charges of simple assault and forgery. In one bizarre post, he depicts himself wearing goggles, breathing fire and claiming that former President Joe Biden owes him $2,000.
According to his mother, Balmer suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and had stopped taking his medications prior to his attack on the Shapiro residence.
“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, 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,” Shapiro said on Sunday.
Last week, The Maine Wire reached out to a number of mental health professionals across the country to better understand what might be driving such troubling behavior. At that time, the focus of inquiry was the so-called Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS), which is not formally recognized as a mental disorder yet even though a half dozen state representatives in Minnesota are trying to have it declared one there.
Indiana-based clinician Richard Rodgers offered the following insight:
“The concept of Trump Derangement Syndrome, including extreme reactions like fantasizing about violence against a figure like Trump, prompts questions about whether such responses fit a DSM disorder. It’s not easily categorized, but these reactions often arise from intense stress, group-driven narratives, and polarized climates that affect all sides,” Rodgers told The Maine Wire.
“Insight—elusive and painful, like unkinking a hose that may trickle or stay jammed—rarely emerges because chronic tension keeps the mind on edge, propaganda fuses beliefs with identity, and questioning one’s stance feels threatening. Fantasies of violence might reflect not just personal anger but a displaced response to broader societal fractures, pointing more to complex trauma or stress than a neatly defined diagnosis,” he explained.
The attack on Shapiro, a Democrat, defies a simple partisan answer to the question of rising political violence. The Pennsylvania governor’s strong support of Israel, which arguably cost him the VP slot on Democrat Kamala Harris’ ticket in last year’s presidential election, could be speculated to be a motivation given the timing of the attack.
The left-leaning magazine The Nation recently asked the question: “Is Political Violence Ever Acceptable,” and entertained arguments for both yes and no answers. For some, that debate seems to indicate, the question remains open which, in itself, is a bit troubling.
Given Rodger’s suggestion about perceived threats to one’s identity and “displaced response to societal fractures” being potential motivators of violence, there is ample cause to tone down or measure rhetoric in political debates, particularly when they edge on violent outcomes.
Unlike The Nation, Shapiro’s take is unequivocal:
“It’s not okay, and it has to stop.”
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Amazing how the media is trying so hard to avoid saying the obvious, antisemitism! He hates Jews and Passover was too much for this dumbass! All these nutjobs think is burn it down! C’mon man!
All they have is rage and little wisdom. When is the left going to learn? It’s all about policy for using hard earned legal tax payer$ money to benefit the needs of the highest percentage of legal taxpaying citizens legally registered to vote. It will take the awareness, acceptance and action of every legal independent registered voter in Maine to step up for local support of candidates to defeat the corruption, fraud and stupidity in the once grand state of Maine.
One of his own. Enjoy democrats enjoy.
“The left-leaning magazine The Nation recently asked the question: “Is Political Violence Ever Acceptable,” and entertained arguments for both yes and no answers. For some, that debate seems to indicate, the question remains open which, in itself, is a bit troubling.”
Can you imagine the outcry if a right-leaning magazine were to even ask such a question?!?
There IS a dual standard, and that (and not mental illness) is what is provoking this. The left has to say what those on the right already say — “the hell you will” and start STOPPING this sort of stuff. Openly condemning it as inherently wrong.
It started 50 years ago when the guns went into Cornell — those students should have been expelled. They weren’t, and ever since the left has seen violence acceptable to advance its cause.
He hates jews he said. Well lots and lots of democrats feel the same as he. Why do the Jewish people still vote for democrats?
Having once lived in Pennsylvania I can tell you it is a “ Commonwealth “ .
My money is your money and your money is my money . It’s like Massachusetts .
The state decides everything and you are expected to worship and genuflect to the state .
The only difference for Maine is we call it a “ state “ . Same difference .
Janet Mills runs the show and we just either worship or suffer depending on our individual brain activity
There are not an over abundance of bright bulbs who call Pa home .
This is fine. Dumb asses fighting with dumb asses. Seriously, its like a dog biting its own tail. Keep it up morons, their true face is showing. Another jump the shark moment.
Put him away.