Months after arson attack, Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro urges unity at Eradicate Hate Summit

Hallie Lauer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sep 16, 2025

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PITTSBURGH — Nearly five months after an arson attack on his home, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro addressed the fifth annual Eradicate Hate Global Summit, urging unity and moral clarity amid a rise in political and hate-driven violence nationwide.

Shapiro, a Democrat, gave a keynote speech at the Eradicate Hate Global Summit on Tuesday morning. Shapiro's remarks came days after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Shapiro and his family had gone to sleep after celebrating the first night of Passover last April, when they were awoken by State Police officers pounding on their doors, telling them to evacuate.

Alleged arsonist Cody Balmer had snuck past the security and used a Molotov cocktail to start the fires. He later told police that he targeted the governor because of "what he wants to do to the Palestinian people," police records said.

"This type of violence has no place in our society, regardless of what motivates it, who pulls the trigger, who throws the Molotov cocktail, or who wields the weapon," Shapiro said Tuesday morning at the summit, recounting the story of that night and the immediate aftermath.

The Eradicate Hate Global Summit was created in response to the Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting in 2018, where 11 worshippers were killed. It is the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history.

Mr. Shapiro, considered a potential Democratic presidential contender in 2028, has previously criticized President Donald Trump's rhetoric, and on Tuesday, he again called out Trump and his allies for "cherry picking certain violence that is OK and certain violence that is not OK," he said.

"That is making everyone less safe," Shapiro said. "It's raising the temperature instead of lowering the temperature. This should be a moment where we should be able to stand in universal condemnation."

Trump has been very vocal about last week's shooting of Kirk, as have other Republican lawmakers some of whom have called for vengeance for Kirk's death.

"We need to be universal in our condemnation," Mr. Shapiro said. "And the President has once again failed that leadership test, failed that morality test, and it makes us all less safe."

Much of Shapiro's speech at the summit focused on ways that people can help combat the dangerous discourse that has led to political violence.

He mentioned strengthening security at places of worship and hiring more cops as some avenues to prevent violence, "but it's not enough," he said.

He also pointed to the newly created Digital Literacy Toolkit developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education as a way to teach young people about what they're reading online.

"The way these algorithms are set up on all the various platforms is it rewards the rage, and that's dangerous for all of us," Shapiro said. "I don't care if our kids take a stance on the political left or the political right, but I do care that they're able to discern fact from fiction online."

But it's also on those in governmental positions to work to condemn the violence rather than pointing blame at others, Shapiro said.

After the attack on the governor's residence, all living former governors and the families of some who have since died gathered to find a way to help repair the home they all at one point lived in.

A mix of Democrats and Republicans, they all showed up, Shapiro said. "The mere fact that they came together brought down the temperature."

Shapiro was introduced as the keynote speaker of the day by former Republican Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett. It was Corbett and his wife, Sue, who organized the rest of the first families coming together to support the Shapiro family.

"Preventing hate-fueled violence is not a partisan issue, but one that requires all of us working together," Corbett said Tuesday.

Shapiro said leaders like himself and Corbett have a "responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity."

He said to help assuage some of the violent rhetoric that is happening online, which has often led to violence, the government needs to focus on meeting the needs of its people.

"Too often the anger and frustration starts where someone intersects with government and doesn't get the answer they need," he said. "We need to listen more and act faster. We must get stuff done and restore faith that government can be a force for good."

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