This is Not Okay
The Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence is a stately Georgian style mansion that sits along the banks of the Susquehanna River in the northern part of the state’s capital city of Harrisburg. The Governor’s Residence is Pennsylvania’s version of the White House. It has space for ceremonial functions. It also has living quarters for the commonwealth’s First Family. It is filled with items of historical value making it a place of special significance.
On the morning of Sunday, April 13th news began filtering out that there had been a fire at the residence. Like many I assumed there must have been an electrical fire or some other accident and hoped the damage was minimal. Throughout the day details emerged revealing the fire had been deliberately set by an arsonist bent on harming Governor Josh Shapiro.
The perpetrator, whose name I am deliberately not mentioning, scaled a perimeter fence, broke in windows and hurled incendiary devices before escaping into the night. Videos and photos revealed the damage, which was extensive.
More horrific is the fact Governor Shapiro and his family were sleeping in the residence having held a seder on the first night of the Jewish observance of Passover. The Shapiro family was awakened by first responders pounding on their door and the Pennsylvania State Police shepherded them out of harm’s way.
The arsonist turned himself into authorities and claimed had he encountered the governor he planned to beat him with a hammer. He expressed antisemitic anger at Shapiro related to the Palestinian conflict.
The attack was more than arson – it was an assassination attempt.
A few days later Governor Shapiro addressed the violence saying:
“I said after the assassination attempt on the President in Butler: I said, in Altoona, after we captured the individual who shot and killed the U.S. Health Care CEO; and I said on Sunday that this kind of violence has no place in our society, regardless of what motivates it.
This is not how we resolve our differences, and this is not okay
This level of violence has to end, and it has to be roundly condemned by everyone, both political parties, people from all different walks of life.
It is not okay.”
Governor Shapiro is absolutely correct. It is not okay and condemnation for the violent act perpetrated against him poured in from all political, ideological, and religious quarters.
And there is something else that is not okay.
Immediately after the fire Governor Shapiro lauded the Harrisburg Bureau of Fire and the first responders who extinguished the fire the Governor’s Residence and led his family to safety saying:
“Every day we stand with law enforcement and first responders who run towards danger to protect our communities. Last night, they did so for our family – and Lori and I are eternally grateful to them for keeping us safe.”
Across Penn’s Woods, however, fire and other emergency services are struggling to provide that level of protection to all of our citizens. To their credit they are doing exactly that, but it is getting more and more difficult.
Costs are staggering: one fire truck can cost upward of $2 million or more. You can’t sell enough barbequed chickens or hold enough bingos to pay for them. The number of volunteer firefighters has declined precipitously making quick response more difficult. Since the 1970s the number of volunteer firefighters has dropped from 360,000 to less than 37,000.
Municipalities are struggling to find the revenue needed to supplement such volunteer services with paid responders. The money needed to maintain existing paid fire departments, and the even greater financial burden to stand up paid departments which have become necessary due to the lack of volunteers, are increasing exponentially. It is a cost municipalities cannot bear alone. State assistance is needed.
Governor Shapiro used the firebombing at the Governor’s Residence to spotlight the challenges facing emergency services and to rally support for legislative efforts to provide more funding. State government funds many important services, but public safety – fire, police and EMS – are the single most important function of government at all levels.
In an era of divided government and deep partisan disagreements there are few things on which we can all agree.
We can, however, all agree that underfunding our first responders is not okay.
And, certainly, we can all agree with Governor Shapiro that violence against our candidates and elected officials is not okay.
(Lowman S. Henry is Chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute and host of the weekly American Radio Journal and Lincoln Radio Journal. His e-mail address is [email protected].)
Permission to reprint is granted provided author and affiliation are cited.
