JD Vance’s Ohio Home Vandalized By Hammer-Wielding Man

A 26-year-old man was arrested Monday after he allegedly attempted to break into the Cincinnati home of Vice President JD Vance by shattering windows with a hammer. 

William Defoor was detained after midnight after the Secret Service said they found him trespassing at Vance’s Walnut Hills neighborhood home. He has been charged with vandalism, obstructing official business, criminal damaging, and criminal trespass. 

Neither Vance nor his family was at the home at the time of the incident. 

“I appreciate everyone’s well wishes about the attack at our home. As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows. I’m grateful to the secret service and the Cincinnati police for responding quickly,” Vance posted on X. “We weren’t even home as we had returned already to DC.”

Vance added that he was skeptical of the news value of posting pictures of the broken windows at his home. 

“One request to the media: we try to protect our kids as much as possible from the realities of this life of public service. In that light, I am skeptical of the news value of plastering images of our home with holes in the windows,” he said. 

Defoor was allegedly able to make it all the way to Vance’s home undetected before Secret Service agents heard the glass windows breaking, the Associated Press reported. A Secret Service vehicle was also vandalized. 

Defoor is being held at the Hamilton County Detention Center and is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday. He could face additional federal charges, authorities said.

“The U.S. Secret Service is coordinating with the Cincinnati Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office as charging decisions are reviewed,” said the Secret Service. 

Defoor’s criminal history includes prior arrests for trespassing and vandalism. In November 2023, a judge dismissed a criminal trespassing case after determining that he was not competent to stand trial. 

In a vandalism case earlier this year, Defoor was sentenced to receive mental health treatment. WXIX reported that the case involved Defoor causing more than $2000 worth of damage to an interior design company.