In the early hours of Monday morning, Vice President JD Vance’s home in Cincinnati became the site of a disturbing security breach after 26-year-old William DeFoor allegedly smashed windows with a hammer in what authorities are calling an attempted break-in. The incident, now confirmed by multiple law enforcement sources, adds yet another chapter to the growing concern over political violence and public safety in an increasingly volatile American climate.
According to the Associated Press, Secret Service agents guarding the property heard a loud noise just after midnight and encountered DeFoor actively attempting to enter the home. One official reported that the suspect had already vandalized a Secret Service vehicle on his way up the driveway. DeFoor was arrested on the spot and now faces four charges, including obstructing official business and criminal damaging.
Vice President Vance, who was not home at the time, addressed the situation in a measured post on X: “As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows.” He thanked both the Secret Service and Cincinnati Police for their rapid response and emphasized that his family, including his children, had already returned to Washington, D.C.
But beneath the calm tone of Vance’s message lies an undeniable subtext: this wasn’t just an act of vandalism — it was a security breach at the private residence of the sitting vice president of the United States. That it happened in a quiet, upscale neighborhood of Cincinnati — not at the heavily guarded official vice presidential residence in Washington — only heightens the alarm.
There are deeper implications. This is not the first time Vance’s home has become a political flashpoint. Just last year, pro-Ukraine protesters demonstrated outside the residence and, according to Vance, targeted him while he was walking with his 3-year-old daughter. He recounted the disturbing incident, noting that he engaged with the protesters in an attempt to shield his child from harassment. His blunt takeaway: “If you’re chasing a 3-year-old as part of a political protest, you’re a s–t person.”
This week’s incident is far more severe.
Court records reveal that DeFoor has a troubling history of mental instability and past criminal behavior. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to vandalizing a local business and was sent to a mental health facility. A previous criminal trespass case was dismissed after a judge ruled him mentally unfit to stand trial.
So, yes — the legal story may ultimately focus on DeFoor’s mental competence. But the broader issue here cannot be ignored: a political leader’s home was attacked, in the middle of the night, by a man wielding a hammer. That matters.
And Vance, for his part, made a pointed request to the media — one that cuts to the heart of what public service often demands of families: “We try to protect our kids as much as possible from the realities of this life of public service… I am skeptical of the news value of plastering images of our home with holes in the windows.”
This wasn’t just an attack on a house. It was a reminder that the toxic blend of instability, obsession, and hyper-politicization continues to spill out of the digital realm and into real-world danger. And unless that reality is acknowledged — across party lines and in the public square — there will be more broken windows ahead.
