WASHINGTON — An Ohioan pleaded guilty to vandalizing and trying to break into Vice President JD Vance’s Cincinnati home in January.
William DeFoor, 26, pleaded guilty to causing willful injury or depredation and carrying out physical violence against government officials during a Tuesday court hearing.
DeFoor, who has a schizophrenia diagnosis, is staring down 30 years in prison for allegedly smashing glass windows in front of Vance’s residence and hitting security assets with a hammer. The vandal is reportedly the son of a prominent Ohio millionaire family — and appears to have been going by “Julia” on social media.
“Acts of violence directed against our political leaders, their families, or property, have no place in our society and will not be tolerated,” US attorney Dominick Gerace II said about the guilty plea.
“Our elected leaders, at all levels of government, must be permitted to carry out their duties free from threats, vandalism, and other forms of violence,” Gerace added. “Perpetrators like DeFoor, who put that freedom at risk, particularly through violent, destructive actions, will, like here, be vigorously prosecuted.”
DeFoor’s father, named William, is a successful Harvard University graduate, a pediatric urologist in Cincinnati and professor at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine.
The elder DeFoor donated thousands to Kamala Harris’ failed presidential campaign in 2024 and lives in $1.3 million house in the tony Hyde Park neighborhood.
