William D DeFoor, 26, has pleaded guilty to charges of committing acts of physical violence against government officials and causing wilful damage to United States property, following a hammer attack on Vice President JD Vance's Ohio home in January. DeFoor's lawyers cited his extensive history of mental health struggles, including a schizophrenia diagnosis, as context for his actions, though prosecutors stressed that violence against political leaders and their property would be vigorously prosecuted regardless.

DeFoor, the son of two doctors, was apprehended by Secret Service agents in the early hours of 5 January after he ran along the fence of Vance's $1.4 million Cincinnati property while the Vice President's family were away in Washington DC. He struck the windows of an unmarked federal vehicle and the house itself with a hammer, ignoring police orders to stop, and caused an estimated $28,000 of damage. Defence attorneys pointed to a prior record of mental illness-related incidents, including a dismissed 2023 trespassing charge and a 2024 vandalism case, after which his mother was granted legal guardianship over him.