Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has called on society to reject political violence in a New York Times opinion piece following last week’s arsonist attack on his mansion, writes Gillian McGoldrick for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Shapiro, who similarly condemned political violence after an assassination attempt on President Donald Trump, wrote that there is a “shared responsibility to do better.”

The Abington native faced such violence last week, when Cody Balmer allegedly set several fires at the governor’s residence while the governor’s family was still asleep inside. Balmer, whose family said he had stopped taking his schizophrenia and bipolar disorder medication and had become more agitated, told police he hated Shapiro and would have beaten him with a hammer if he found him at his home that night.

“This level of violence has to stop,” wrote Shapiro, adding that elected officials have an “additional responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity.”

“To not just call out what’s right and what’s wrong but also to do the hard work of bringing people together to find common ground in a world that’s constantly trying to divide us,” he wrote.

Read the full story in The Philadelphia Inquirer to see how Governor Shapiro is urging all of us to stand against political violence — and to stand together.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on MONTCO Today in April 2025.