Security Report In Governor’s Fire Won’t Be Made Public

May 5, 2025 2:53 am

(WPXI) – A consultant paid to review security at the official residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro after it was firebombed by a late-night intruder said Friday that his team’s findings will not be made public.  Retired state police Col. Jeffrey Miller said in a statement that the “sensitive nature” of the findings he has given to Shapiro and state police “precludes their release to the public for obvious reasons.”  The dangerous breakdown in protection has raised questions about how the intruder was able to elude state police security as he climbed a 7-foot (2-meter) fence and smashed two windows, then crawled inside and ignited destructive fires with two gasoline-filled beer bottles.  “I am confident that if fully implemented, the key recommendations that we have made will prevent an attack of this nature from succeeding in the future,” Miller said. His San Diego-based security consulting firm is being paid more than $35,000 for the work.  Paula Knudsen Burke, the Pennsylvania lawyer with the nonprofit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said portions of the report could be released even if the full report isn’t.  “It seems we’re spending taxpayer dollars to review taxpayer paid employees working in a taxpayer owned building,” Burke said. “It seems taxpayers should have some visibility into what their money is used for.”  A Harrisburg man, Cody Balmer, 38, has been charged with attempted homicide, arson and other offenses for the attack on the state-owned Harrisburg residence about 2 a.m. on Sunday, April 13. The fire caused an estimated millions of dollars in damage but no one was hurt.