Vice President J.D. Vance responded Monday to the attack on his Cincinnati home earlier in the day and asked the media to stop showing the damage done for the sake of his children.
Authorities arrested Kentucky resident William DeFoor, 26, overnight after he allegedly used a hammer to smash windows of the Vance residence, the New York Post reported.
“DeFoor is charged with obstructing official business, criminal damaging or endangering, criminal trespass, and vandalism, according to Hamilton County jail records. His first court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday,” the outlet said.
The Associated Press said that Secret Service agents “heard a loud noise at the house around midnight and found a person who had broken a window with a hammer and was trying to get in, according to two law enforcement officials who were not publicly authorized to discuss the investigation into what happened and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The man had also vandalized a Secret Service vehicle on his way up the home’s driveway, one of the officials said.”
The incident occurred shortly after midnight Monday morning, authorities said.
Vance responded, posting on social media, “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.”
“We weren’t even home as we had returned already to DC,” the VP noted. The second family returned from Cincinnati to the nation’s capital Sunday afternoon, according to NBC affiliate WLWT-TV.
Vance concluded, “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.”
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.
We weren’t even home as we had returned…
— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 5, 2026
Vance and his wife, Usha, have three children: two sons, Ewan and Vivek, and a daughter, Mirabel, ages 8, 5, and 3, respectively, People said in November.
The New York Post reported in March that pro-Ukrainian protesters allegedly accosted Vance while he was taking his daughter for a walk.
“I decided to speak with the protesters in the hopes that I could trade a few minutes of conversation for them leaving my toddler alone. (Nearly all of them agreed),” Vance wrote on X at the time.
Today while walking my 3 year old daughter a group of “Slava Ukraini” protesters followed us around and shouted as my daughter grew increasingly anxious and scared.
I decided to speak with the protesters in the hopes that I could trade a few minutes of conversation for them…
— JD Vance (@JDVance) March 8, 2025
“It was a mostly respectful conversation, but if you’re chasing a 3-year-old as part of a political protest, you’re a s*** person.”
Fox Affiliate WXIX-TV reported that DeFoor has a criminal history.
BREAKING: William DeFoor arrested in Cincinnati after he allegedly broke the windows of Vice President JD Vance’s personal home.
He has been charged with criminal damaging/endangering, obstructing official business, criminal trespass, and vandalism pic.twitter.com/ODLWqHuPGb
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 5, 2026
He pleaded guilty in April to two counts of vandalism after causing $2,000 worth of damage to an interior design company, according to court documents.
DeFoor was sentenced to pay $5,500 in restitution and to receive treatment at a mental health facility.
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