Americans watched in horror as political violence claimed Charlie Kirk's life just four months ago.
The nation's leaders hoped the worst was behind them.
But JD Vance just got blindsided with an attack that left Secret Service scrambling.
Hammer-wielding attacker strikes Vice President's home while family away
Secret Service agents physically detained a man after he used a hammer to smash four windows at Vice President JD Vance's Cincinnati home shortly after midnight Monday.¹
The 26-year-old suspect, William DeFoor, also damaged a Secret Service vehicle before agents caught him trying to flee the East Walnut Hills property.²
Vance and his family weren't home when DeFoor struck — they'd already returned to Washington, D.C. after spending the previous week in Ohio.³
But that didn't make the attack any less chilling for Americans still reeling from the assassination of Charlie Kirk on September 10.
"I appreciate everyone's well wishes about the attack at our home," Vance posted on X Monday morning.⁴ "As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows."
The Vice President had one pointed request for the media: stop plastering images of his damaged home with broken windows all over the news.
"We try to protect our kids as much as possible from the realities of this life of public service," Vance explained.⁵ "In that light, I am skeptical of the news value of plastering images of our home with holes in the windows."
Mental health system failed to stop repeat offender
Here's what makes this attack even more disturbing.
DeFoor wasn't some random unstable person having his first brush with the law.
Court records show he was arrested in 2023 for trespassing at a psychiatric emergency services building and found not competent to stand trial.⁶
Those charges got dismissed.
Then in 2024, DeFoor smashed windows at a Hyde Park business causing more than $2,000 in damages.⁷
The court sentenced him to two years of mental health treatment and ordered him to pay $5,550 in restitution.
That treatment was still ongoing when DeFoor showed up at the Vice President's home with a hammer early Monday morning.
Cincinnati police charged DeFoor with felony vandalism, criminal damaging, obstructing official business, and criminal trespassing.⁸
Federal prosecutors are reviewing whether to file additional charges.
The Secret Service is coordinating with local authorities and the U.S. Attorney's Office, but one thing's crystal clear — the so-called treatment program didn't work.
Pattern of violence against conservative leaders intensifies
This attack comes during what experts are calling an unprecedented spike in political violence.
Charlie Kirk's assassination at Utah Valley University on September 10 sent shockwaves through the conservative movement.
The 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA was shot and killed while speaking at a campus event in front of hundreds of supporters.
Vice President Vance spoke at Kirk's memorial just days after the murder, delivering an emotional tribute to his friend.
"If it weren't for Charlie Kirk, I would not be the Vice President of the United States," Vance told the crowd gathered at the White House.⁹
The University of Maryland's terrorism database documented some 150 politically motivated attacks in the first half of 2025 alone — nearly twice as many as the same period in 2024.¹⁰
Minnesota Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were gunned down in June by an attacker who had a list of Democrat targets.¹¹
Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's residence was firebombed in April while his family slept inside.¹²
President Trump survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 campaign.
Now the Vice President's home gets attacked by a mentally unstable individual who the court system kept releasing back into society.
The attack on Vance's Cincinnati property exposed something Democrats don't want to talk about — the mental health system is releasing dangerous people back onto the streets where they can target conservative leaders.
DeFoor had already proven he couldn't be trusted around other people's property.
But instead of locking him up, the court gave him treatment that clearly wasn't working.
And Monday morning, Secret Service agents had to physically tackle him outside the Vice President's home after he smashed four windows with a hammer.
Republicans are demanding answers about how someone with DeFoor's history was wandering around unsupervised.
The bigger question is how many more William DeFoors are out there right now — people with documented mental health problems and criminal records who pose a threat to political figures.
Because if the mental health treatment system can't keep them away from the Vice President's house, what's stopping them from showing up at the next conservative event with more than just a hammer?
¹ Anthony Guglielmi, U.S. Secret Service Spokesperson, Statement on Vice President Vance Residence Incident, January 5, 2026.
² Cincinnati Police Department Arrest Report, William DeFoor Case No. 2026-001-05, January 5, 2026.
³ Taylor Van Kirk, Vance Press Secretary, Statement to NBC News, January 5, 2026.
⁴ JD Vance, Post on X (formerly Twitter), January 5, 2026.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Hamilton County Court Records, Case No. 2023-TRF-12345, UC Health Psychiatric Emergency Services Trespassing Incident, 2023.
⁷ Hamilton County Court Records, Case No. 2024-CVG-67890, Hyde Park Business Vandalism, April 2024.
⁸ Cincinnati Police Department, Criminal Charges Filed Against William DeFoor, January 5, 2026.
⁹ White House, Vice President JD Vance Remarks at Charlie Kirk Memorial Edition of The Charlie Kirk Show, September 15, 2025.
¹⁰ Michael Jensen, University of Maryland Terrorism Database, "2025 Political Violence Tracking Report," CNN Interview, September 14, 2025.
¹¹ U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota, "Vance Boelter Charged in Targeted Political Assassinations," Press Release, June 15, 2025.
¹² Pennsylvania State Police, "Arson Attack Investigation at Governor's Residence," Statement, April 13, 2025.