Connect with us

Northeast

Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro says Trump called him about arson attack: 'Very gracious'

Published

on

Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro says Trump called him about arson attack: 'Very gracious'

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said Tuesday that President Donald Trump called him over the weekend to discuss the arson attack on the governor’s mansion a week before.

Shapiro said Trump called him Saturday morning and that the president was “very gracious.”

The governor said he did not answer Trump’s call and let it go to voicemail because he did not recognize the number the president was calling from.

“I appreciated that the president called me,” Shapiro told reporters at the annual Easter Egg Hunt at the governor’s residence in Harrisburg. “I actually didn’t take his call because it came from his cellphone and I didn’t have that number in my phone, so I didn’t know who it was. As soon as I heard his message, I called him right back.”

SUSPECT’S 911 CALL RELEASED AFTER ARSON AT PA GOVERNOR’S MANSION THAT APPEARED TO BE FUELED BY WAR IN GAZA

Advertisement

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said President Donald Trump called him to discuss the arson attack on the governor’s mansion. (Commonwealth Media Services/Handout via Reuters)

Shapiro said he spoke with Trump for about 15 minutes about various topics, including the arson attack and how his wife and children were doing following the fire incident.

“He was very gracious,” Shapiro said. “He asked how Lori and the kids were doing. [We] talked for a couple of minutes about what transpired at the residence, and then we talked for maybe the next 15 minutes or so about a whole host of other topics.”

“Obviously, I’m not going to get into our private conversation, but he’s attuned to the issues that are important to me,” the governor continued. “I, of course, know the issues that are important to him, and we agreed to stay in touch going forward.”

Shapiro told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview recorded late last week and aired Sunday that Trump had not called him after the April 13 attack on his residence. The governor said at the time that he had heard from Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.

Advertisement

Trump said last week when asked if he knew of the attacker’s motive that he had not heard about one. He also said that the suspect “was not a fan of Trump.”

SUSPECTED PENNSYLVANIA ARSONIST MAY HAVE BEEN MOTIVATED BY WAR IN GAZA: POLICE

Extensive fire damage to the Pennsylvania Governor’s Mansion is seen on April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)

“He’s probably just a whack job. And certainly a thing like that cannot be allowed to happen,” Trump said at the time.

Cody Balmer, 38, is charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism and related offenses for allegedly setting fire to Shapiro’s residence last week.

Advertisement

Balmer has reportedly admitted in multiple instances that he was motivated by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and what Shapiro, who is Jewish, “wants to do to the Palestinian people.”

“Governor Josh Shapiro needs to know that Cody Balmer will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,” Balmer allegedly told a dispatcher in a 911 call after the attack. “He needs to leave my family alone. He needs to get his eyes off of my daughters. And he needs to stop having my friends killed.”

“You all know where to find me. I’m not hiding, and I will confess to everything that I had done,” he added.

Cody Balmer, 38, is charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism and related offenses. (WTXF)

Advertisement

A warrant details Balmer’s interview with state troopers in which he allegedly admitted to “harboring hatred towards” Shapiro. Balmer also reportedly admitted to a trooper that he was responsible for the arson attack and said he planned to attack Shapiro with his hammer if he were to find the governor in the mansion.

Surveillance video described in a warrant allegedly shows Balmer breaking a window at the governor’s residence before throwing “an incendiary device” inside. According to the warrant, Balmer then broke another window, entered the residence and deployed another incendiary device before he “approached the dining room exit.”

The warrant also says a woman — seemingly identified as Balmer’s “ex-paramour” — said he confessed to the attack and asked her to call police to turn him in.

Read the full article from Here

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

New York

Read the Indictment of Malik Beasley

Published

on

Read the Indictment of Malik Beasley

65.

In or about and between December 2023 and April 2024, both dates being approximate and inclusive, within the Eastern District of New York and elsewhere, the defendants MALIK BEASLEY, also known as “Beas,” “Bease,” “MB” and “5,” WILLIAM BROWN, also known as “Willo,” EDWARD DAVIS, also known as “Ed,” “ED” and “E Davis,” ROBERT GORODETSKY, also known as “Rob,” ERNESTO PLASCENCIA, also known as “Ernie,” “Erny,” “Ernie P” and “Erny P,” and PAOLO ZAMORANO, also known as “PZ,”
together with others, did knowingly and intentionally conspire:

(a)

to conduct one or more financial transactions in and affecting
interstate commerce, which transactions in fact involved the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, to wit: (i) wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343 and (ii) sports bribery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 224, knowing that the property involved in the transactions represented the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, and with the intent to promote the carrying on of the specified unlawful activity, contrary to Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(a)(1)(A)(i);

(b)

to conduct one or more financial transactions in and affecting interstate commerce, which transactions in fact involved the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, to wit: (i) wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343 and (ii) sports bribery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 224, knowing that the property involved in the transactions represented the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, and knowing that the transactions were designed in whole and in part to conceal and disguise the

19

Continue Reading

Boston, MA

Scottish soccer fan who died in Boston was ‘Tartan Army to his core,’ fundraising page says – The Boston Globe

Published

on

Scottish soccer fan who died in Boston was ‘Tartan Army to his core,’ fundraising page says – The Boston Globe


A Scottish man who died after collapsing outside a Boston pub while visiting for the World Cup is being remembered as a devoted soccer fan who was “Tartan Army to his core.”

Thomas Murty, known as “Tam,” died June 19 after collapsing near The Dubliner pub in downtown Boston a day earlier, according to a GoFundMe fundraising campaign to return Murty’s body to Scotland and pay for funeral expenses. Murty was born in 1963.

“Tam was Scotland daft his whole life,” the GoFundMe page reads. “He lived for it — the highs, the heartbreaks, the songs, the hope that never died no matter how many years went by. Following Scotland wasn’t just something he did; it was who he was.”

Murty had waited three decades to see Scotland play in the World Cup. Watching the Scottish team compete in the tournament was “the dream of a lifetime,” the fundraising page said.

Advertisement

Oram McGonagle, who owns The Dubliner, said he was at the pub when Murty collapsed. He said he saw a Scottish fan with an oxygen tube standing by a pillar outside the building. McGonagle said employees called an ambulance when they realized he needed help.

Caitlin McLaughlin, public relations director for Boston EMS, confirmed that medics took a patient from The Dubliner to an area hospital around 4:30 p.m. that day.

McGonagle later learned from a media report that Murty had died.

The Dubliner has donated 1,000 pounds, or about $1,325, to the fundraiser.

“We had a really good few weeks with the Scottish people,” McGonagle said Monday. “This felt like a way to give some back to them.”

Advertisement

Murty is the second Scottish soccer fan known to have died in Boston while visiting for the World Cup tournament. Donny Strathie, 76, died June 14 after collapsing in a hotel in Norwood. Fans paid tribute to Strathie in the 76th minute of Scotland’s game against Morocco in Foxborough on June 19.

About 2,800 people have donated more than $85,000 to the GoFundMe campaign set up for Murty’s family, as of Monday afternoon.


Ariela Lopez can be reached at ariela.lopez@globe.com. Follow her on X @ariela__lopez.





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Pittsburg, PA

Tech community to Shapiro and Pennsylvania legislators: Wait on data center rules

Published

on

Tech community to Shapiro and Pennsylvania legislators: Wait on data center rules






Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending