Pennsylvania
Trump calls Shapiro arson suspect a ‘whack job,’ Vance says attack ‘really disgusting’
While he at first had little to say about the alleged April 13 attack, Trump said a day later the suspect was “probably just a whack job.”
Fire at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home was arson, police say
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said he “woke up to bangs on the door” at 2 a.m. after an arsonist set fire to the governor’s residence.
Members of President Donald Trump’s administration expressed relief that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family weren’t harmed in a suspected arson attack this weekend on their home, while Trump initially told reporters: “I just heard about it… I have to look into it.”
Asked about the incident again a day later while meeting with the president of El Salvador, Trump called the alleged arsonist “probably just a whack job.”
“Certainly a thing like that can not be allowed to happen,” Trump added April 14 in the White House.
A suspected arson at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion forced Shapiro and his family to flee their home at 2 a.m. on April 13, hours after celebrating the start of Passover.
Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg, was arrested and charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism and related offenses, Dauphin County District Attorney Francis Chardo said in a statement.
“Really disgusting violence, and I hope whoever did it is brought swiftly to justice,” Vice President JD Vance posted on social media, adding that he is thankful Shapiro and his family are safe.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said she is “deeply relieved” the Shapiros are unharmed.
“Thankful for the first responders who arrived on the scene, and applaud the police work that resulted in an arrest just hours ago,” Bondi added.
Trump has not commented on social media about the fire. The president told reporters while flying on April 13 to Washington D.C. from Florida that he’d just heard about the incident.
Newly released court documents say Balmer turned himself in and told investigators he was “harboring hatred” toward Shapiro. He also said he would have beaten the governor with a hammer if he had encountered him in the home, records say. It’s unclear if Balmer has an attorney.
Asked Monday if the president has a statement on the suspected arson attack, the White House pointed to Vance’s post on X.
Contributing: Christopher Cann
The war with Iran could start impacting your wallet as soon as today.
Jim Garrity from AAA East Central says oil prices are up.
“They’re hovering around $72. They were pretty consistently around $65, $66 for a while,” he said.
Nationally, AAA said the average for a gallon of regular sits at about $3, up approximately six cents from last week.
In Pennsylvania, it’s around $3.12 a gallon, and in the Pittsburgh region, it’s around $3.24 a gallon. That’s actually down about four cents from last week.
Garrity added that gas prices this time of year would already be increasing, usually because of higher demand for the warmer months and the production of the summer blend of gas used for those months.
The impacts of what’s happening in Iran may not be immediate, which could be part of why our region and the state overall have not seen a spike yet, he said.
“It could be a couple of days later. It could be up to a week later,” Garrity said.
A lot of people are watching what happens with the Strait of Hormuz. Iran borders it to the north, and 20% of the world’s oil goes through it.
Iran is one of the world’s biggest oil producers, and China gets a lot of that oil.
“If there is an impact there, you could see oil start to come in from other parts of the world, which has a downstream effect on [the United States],” Garrity said.
One way you can save on gas if prices increase in our area is by slowing down.
“When you drive faster every five miles, over 50 miles an hour, your fuel efficiency is going down,” Garrity said. “You’re making the car work harder, making the gasoline consumption less effective.”
Garrity added that in 2022, when our area and many others saw some of the highest gas prices ever recorded, people changed their driving habits.
“We saw people make seemingly permanent changes to their driving behaviors, driving less in general, consolidating trips,” he said.
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