‘Not political’: Attorney said incident at Vance’s Cincinnati home is mental health issue

CINCINNATI (WKRC) — The man accused of damaging Vice President J.D. Vance’s home with a hammer made his first court appearance Tuesday.

William Defoor, 26, was arraigned in municipal court on state charges and is also scheduled to appear in federal court later Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors said U.S. Secret Service agents spotted Defoor about 15 minutes after midnight running along a fence in front of Vance’s East Walnut Hills home. Authorities said Defoor entered the driveway and attempted to break the driver’s side window of an unmarked federal law enforcement vehicle using a hammer.

Agents ordered Defoor to stop and drop the weapon, but he continued toward the house, breaking four windows and damaging a surveillance system, according to the Secret Service.

Authorities said Defoor then fled before being detained by Secret Service agents and Cincinnati police officers.

Defoor faces state charges including obstruction, criminal trespass and felony vandalism. His attorney said there is no evidence Defoor was targeting the vice president.

“This had nothing to do with the specifics of the vice president as much as it was an expression of someone not in control of his mental health situation,” said the attorney. “I just don’t think there is anything political going on here, judge, it’s purely a mental health issue.”

A Hamilton County judge ordered Defoor held on a $11,000 bond on the local charges. He remains in custody on a federal hold.

If convicted on the federal charges, Defoor could face up to 10 years in federal prison. A charge of assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.