An Ohio man pleaded guilty on Sep. 1 to smashing windows and damaging a Secret Service vehicle at Vice President JD Vance’s home earlier this year.
William D. DeFoor, 26, pleaded guilty in a Cincinnati federal court to “engaging in acts of physical violence against government officials or property and causing willful injury or depredation to property of the United States,” a statement by the Department of Justice said.
He has agreed to pay $28,000 in restitution and is not allowed within 350 feet of Vance or his home. He faces up to 10 years in prison for each charge. As part of his plea deal, prosecutors also dropped charges for resisting arrest.
Shortly after midnight on Jan. 5, Secret Service agents saw DeFoor approach Vance’s Cincinnati residence, where he first used a hammer to try to break the windows of an unmarked police vehicle.
According to a court affidavit, DeFoor then ignored agents’ commands to drop the hammer and began smashing windows and security devices at the Vance home. He eventually dropped the tool and attempted to flee but was apprehended. Cincinnati police took him into custody shortly afterward.
The Vances had departed for Washington on the previous day, the affidavit said.
The attack on the Vance residence was one of the first incidents this year targeting high-level government officials.
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett also faced a “swatting” incident earlier this year, in which police were summoned to her home after a false report of gunshots.
Ryan Michael English of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, was sentenced on Aug. 18 to 73 months in prison after he plotted to assassinate Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in January.
In April, an armed man attempted to run through a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington where President Donald Trump and other officials were in attendance. According to an alleged manifesto, he intended to assassinate Trump and harm as many officials as possible.
Law enforcement officials were also able to prevent a planned shooting ahead of a UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House in June.
Secret Service Director Sean Curran said in July that his agency has been dealing with an increase in threats all year.
“The numbers are numbers that this agency and certainly I have never seen in my 24-year career,” he said during a press briefing. “They’re off the charts. I think the threat environment has become very volatile, and that’s just across the board.”
We had a problem loading this article. Please enable javascript or use a different browser. If the issue persists, please visit our help center.