Governor Josh Shapiro has asked a U.S. district judge to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed by his Abington neighbors over a parcel of land between their residences, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The lawsuit was filed in February and involves the roughly $1 million in security upgrades at his private residence following the arson attack on the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg last April. Jeremy and Simone Mock, who filed the 11-page suit and whose property is adjacent to the Shapiros’, are accusing the governor and his wife, Lori, of illegally occupying part of their yard to build an eight-foot security fence.
NBC10 previously released footage of the Mocks interacting with Pennsylvania State Police troopers in mid-October during the ongoing land dispute.
According to The Inquirer’s coverage, Shapiro is contending that the lawsuit is a matter for state courts, and that the state police are immune from litigation in federal court as a state agency.
“That the Shapiros allowed [state police] to access the disputed parcel in a manner similar to that which the Shapiros access that parcel does not magically convert this private dispute to ‘state action,’” the filing says.
Yesterday, The Inquirer detailed the $33 million in security upgrades at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and Shapiro’s Abington home.
You can watch NBC10’s December coverage of the issue below:
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Screengrab: NBC10