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Pennsylvania State Police arrested a 65-year-old man on Wednesday after he allegedly hurled antisemitic slurs at Governor Josh Shapiro and threatened to burn down the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg.
Richard John Franklin had visited State Representative Leanne Kruger’s district office seeking help with overdue taxes.
While a staff member assisted him, Franklin directed antisemitic slurs at Shapiro before threatening to burn down the governor’s mansion, police said.
Troopers from the Political Violence Threat Unit visited Franklin’s home later that day. He gave inconsistent accounts of what happened at the office, CBS News reported.
Franklin admitted using the slur but claimed his threat to burn then official governor’s residence was “sympathetic” and “positive in nature.” He noted that Shapiro’s family had already survived an arson attack.
Authorities charged Franklin with terrorist threats, ethnic intimidation, harassment, and disorderly conduct. He remains at Delaware County Prison after failing to post $100,000 bail, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for next week.
Shapiro’s residence was targeted in an arson attack last year, when it was set ablaze during Passover, forcing an evacuation. The attacker, Cody Balmer, later told a 911 dispatcher that Shapiro needed to know he “will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,” according to a police search warrant.
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