Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday to open a federal hate crime investigation into the arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home earlier this week.

The Democratic governor was asleep in the state’s governor’s mansion with his wife, four children, two dogs and another family who had celebrated Passover with the Shapiros over the weekend when all of the occupants were startled awake by state troopers around 2 a.m. Sunday.

“Given the deeply troubling allegations that the suspect targeted Governor Shapiro based in part on his religious identity, the April 13 incident warrants immediate and serious federal scrutiny,” Schumer wrote in a letter addressed to Bondi.

Soon after the attack, police detained a suspect identified as 38-year-old Harrisburg resident Cody Balmer. He has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson and terrorism.

Schumer’s letter cited search warrants that asserted Balmer referred to Shapiro as a “monster” on a call with 911 and was upset about the governor’s supposed “plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people.” He also appeared to refer to Palestinians as “our people.”

Balmer allegedly planned to beat Shapiro with a hammer if he found him.

The governor’s views on Israel and Palestine came into focus last fall as former Vice President Kamala Harris decided who would be her running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket. A three-decade-old opinion article Shapiro wrote in college said that Palestinian people were “too battle-minded” to achieve peace alongside Israel, but when asked about it, Shapiro said that his views have shifted since he was a young man and that he now supports a two-state solution.

Balmer had walked about an hour from his home to the governor’s mansion, hopped a fence and set a fire that caused significant damage.

“I appreciate your strong condemnation of the attack and urge you to ensure that the federal government does everything in its power to pursue justice and uphold the fundamental values of religious freedom and public safety,” Schumer wrote to Bondi.