Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday called for leaders to speak with “moral clarity” in condemning all forms of political violence, regardless of motivation or target.
Speaking at the 2025 Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Pittsburgh, the Democratic governor’s remarks came amid a surge in political violence across the country, including assassination attempts on President Donald Trump, shootings of Democratic lawmakers and their families in Minnesota, an arson attack on the Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg that forced Shapiro and his family to evacuate in April, and the shooting of conservative activist and influencer Charlie Kirk last week.
“Violence is never okay, regardless of the motivation of violence, is never the answer,” Shapiro said. “And we cannot allow violence to be used as a pretext for more violence.”
Shapiro detailed the April 13 attack on the Governor’s Residence, where an arsonist broke into the State Dining Room, just hours after his family had celebrated Passover there. The attacker launched Molotov cocktails and carried a metal hammer that he later confessed he planned to use to kill the governor.
“I woke up to a bang on the door. It was a state trooper telling us that there was a fire and we needed to evacuate immediately,” Shapiro said. “Lori and I got up, grabbed our children, our dogs, our cousins, and all the nieces and nephews who were there and made our way out to safety.”
The governor said the attack left emotional scars on his family but stressed that political violence affects all Americans.
“Political violence doesn’t only affect those who are directly targeted or their loved ones. It affects all of us,” Shapiro said. “It tears at the fabric of American society and the fundamental principles that this nation was founded upon.”
Shapiro cited the killing of the United Healthcare CEO in New York City and the assassination of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.
“Different places, different people, different perspectives, but one common thread. People using violence to settle political differences,” he said.
The governor criticized leaders who selectively condemn political violence based on partisan considerations. He said such an approach deepens divisions and can encourage more violence.
“There are some who will hear that selective condemnation and take it as a permission slip to commit more violence so long as it suits their narrative or only targets the other side,” Shapiro said.
Former Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, introduced Shapiro at the summit and pointed to the bipartisan response to the attack on the Governor’s Residence. Corbett said he and his wife, Susan, called the Shapiros after the attack to organize support from all living former Pennsylvania governors.
“Preventing hate fueled violence is not a partisan issue. It is one that requires all of us around this country and around the world to work together,” Corbett said.
Shapiro said the group included governors from both parties spanning nearly half a century of Pennsylvania leadership.
“They are Democrats and they are Republicans. Leaders of different generations and from different parts of our commonwealth,” Shapiro said. “But they were united in speaking and acting with moral clarity, making clear that hatred and violence has no place here in Pennsylvania.”
The governor also shared a personal story about an 82-year-old Christian chaplain from the North Penn Township Fire Company who gave him a handwritten prayer after the attack. The prayer was the same Hebrew blessing Shapiro recites over his children each night.
“Chaplain Wardle and I could not be more different in life,” Shapiro said. “Different generations, different walks of life. Heck, we probably vote for different people come election time. Yet we were bound by that same portion of scripture, a portion of hopefulness and healing and protection.”
Shapiro said addressing political violence requires more than security measures, noting his administration has funded more than 1,500 additional police officers and provided $15 million to religious institutions for security improvements.
The governor stated that the root cause of rising political violence is people losing faith in institutions and feeling ignored by government.
He noted that younger Americans “feel unseen” and “unheard” and may turn to online spaces where “righteous frustration is taken advantage of and used to foment hate.”
“What starts with cowardice, keystrokes, too often ends up with a trigger being pulled in our communities,” Shapiro said.
As part of a solution, Shapiro said government needs to demonstrate it can effectively solve people’s problems and create opportunities.
“Maybe, just maybe, for the one time that person, that small business owner, that individual needs their government, that one time, they get an answer and it’s quick and it’s what they were looking for, and they walk away from that experience with just a little more faith that the system is there for them,” he said.
The governor ended his speech by referencing the community response to the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, where diverse groups came together to declare “we are stronger than hate.”
“I believe that in America we are stronger than hate,” Shapiro said. “But I also believe in America that this work doesn’t just fall to others. It falls to each and every one of us.”
After the speech, Shapiro told reporters that Trump and his allies should be working to “lower the temperature” following Kirk’s killing. The governor added it should not be difficult for people to stand up against those cheering on Kirk’s death and those vowing vengeance.
“That’s not OK,” he said. “I don’t care if it’s coming from the left or the right.”
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