JONATHAN TURLEY: How Gov Shapiro became a squatter and got sued by his neighbors
Shapiro faces lawsuit over $830K property after allegedly using state police to bar neighbors from their own land
By Jonathan Turley Fox News
Published March 14, 2026 7:08am EDT
Poet Robert Frost once said that "good fences make good neighbors." He apparently never met Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is being sued by his neighbors for effectively squatting on their land and then seizing it to install a fence along his $830,500 private residence in suburban Philadelphia. The litigation is likely to put Shapiro in a much different light for many who think of him as a 2028 contender.
The irony of the case is crushing. Shapiro opposed Trump's plan to build a wall along the southern border, declaring that he would sue before a dime of Pennsylvania money went to pay for it. He apparently adopted a similar approach to his neighbors in Pennsylvania. The difference is that he built the wall, but without giving his neighbors a dime.
Shapiro has long wanted a 2,900-square-foot parcel of land located between the two homes in Abington, Montgomery County. The problem is that his neighbors like their land and want to keep it. They turned down multiple offers from Shapiro.
That is when the governor decided to build it anyway.
Jeremy and Simone Mock allege that Shapiro effectively became a squatter by using the state police to bar them from their own property and then building an eight-foot security fence.
After the Mocks sued, Shapiro countersued, claiming that the land was now his through "adverse possession." He basically claimed that they abandoned the land despite their repeatedly trying to gain entry and repeatedly turning down his offers to buy it.
more
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jonathan-turley-how-gov-shapiro-became-squatter-got-sued-his-neighbors
