Pennsylvania governor accused in court of trying to steal neighbor’s sliver of land

One prominent publication has described Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, as “a rising star in his party.”

Further, “Many of his admirers think he could be a strong presidential candidate.”

But right now he’s facing accusations he’s trying to steal a sliver of land belonging to his neighbors, in order to put in a “security” fence around his own property.

Further, he’s accused of using state police to bully, threaten and attack the neighbors.

A report at Courthousenews said Shapiro decided he wanted additional security after an arson attempt at his home.

A complaint now has been filed in federal court in Philadelphia by the neighbors, Jeremy and Simone Mock, who are accusing the governor not only of trying to run a scam to take ownership of a portion of their property but lying to do it.

“The plaintiffs say in the complaint filed in Philadelphia federal court the Shapiros first offered to purchase a portion of the Mocks’ property to construct the fence. As discussions stalled, the parties began instead negotiating a lease agreement for the strip of land, according to the Mocks,” the report said.

But things failed to work out and the Shapiros then decided to pursue “an outrageous abuse of power by the sitting governor of Pennsylvania.”

“With no apparent way to purchase the land, the Shapiros suddenly began claiming they already owned the property through ‘adverse possession,'” the report said.

They began planting trees, chasing the Mocks’ arborist off the land and directing state police to patrol the Mocks’ land.

The Mocks cite in their legal filings statements from the Shapiros admitting the Mocks own the land, a survey obtained by the Shapiros documenting that, and even county tax assessment maps.

“The Shapiros clearly knew the area of the Mock property that they are occupying unlawfully is owned by the Mocks,” the Mocks’ complaint charges. “The Shapiros continue to occupy the Mock property without permission or any legal justification whatsoever.”

The Mocks live next to the Shapiros in Rydal, and have been battling the Shapiros’ demands for an eight-foot security fence on the Mocks land, to protect the Shapiros, who also have demanded ownership of the land in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.

There, they claim to have had “open, exclusive, hostile, continuous, adverse, and actual possession” of the land since 2003, even though their own statements have conceded the Mocks’ ownership.

The court filing notes that “The Shapiros suddenly claimed, without evidence, they owned the Mock Property through ‘adverse possession’ despite their previous acknowledgements that the Mock Property was owned by no one other than the Mocks and despite having never been awarded the Mock Property through adverse possession.”

In fact, the government was billing the Mocks, and they were paying, property taxes on the land.

The claim cites the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause that “provides that the government may not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.”