WASHINGTON — An Ohio man has pleaded guilty to vandalizing and attempting to force his way into Vice President JD Vance’s Cincinnati residence in January.
William DeFoor, 26, entered guilty pleas during a court hearing Tuesday to charges of willful injury or depredation and committing physical violence against government officials.
DeFoor, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, faces up to 30 years in prison after prosecutors said he shattered glass windows at the front of Vance’s home and struck security equipment with a hammer. He is reportedly the son of a prominent millionaire family in Ohio and appears to have used the name “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 following 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, also named William, is a Harvard University graduate, a pediatric urologist in Cincinnati and a professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
The elder DeFoor donated thousands of dollars to Kamala Harris’ unsuccessful 2024 presidential campaign and lives in a $1.3 million home in Cincinnati’s affluent Hyde Park neighborhood.
