A federal grand jury has indicted the man accused of vandalizing Vice President J.D. Vance's Cincinnati home.
U.S. attorneys say William DeFoor, 27, broke three windows on Vance's property and tried to smash the window of a Secret Service vehicle with a hammer Jan. 5. They released a charging document with the accusations last week.
The indictment charges DeFoor with damaging government property, engaging in physical violence against any person or property in a restricted building or grounds, and assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers. Those charges carry a sentence of up to 40 years in prison and a $750,000 fine.
DeFoor also faces charges in Hamilton County Courts related to the incident.
In a detention hearing in federal court Tuesday, DeFoor's attorney Paul Laufman argued that his client suffers from schizophrenia and that his actions were not political in nature.
He asked Chief Magistrate Judge of the Southern District of Ohio Stephanie K. Bowman to follow the recommendations from the court's pretrial services division and allow DeFoor to be released to a secure psychiatric hospital pending trial.
During the hearing, Laufman detailed what he said was the slow realization by DeFoor's family that he is mentally ill and experiences hallucinations and other severe symptoms.
DeFoor was charged with trespassing in 2023 but was found not competent to stand trial. He faced a vandalism charge in 2024 for throwing a brick through the window of a Hyde Park business. That charge resulted in a court-ordered stay in a psychiatric facility, during which Laufman said DeFoor showed "significant" improvement.
"This is an individual and a family who are doing everything in their power" to address DeFoor's mental health issues, he said.
After DeFoor left the facility, Laufman said he had a period of time when he did well. But his symptoms began to return again and the family had discussed returning him to inpatient psychiatric treatment in the weeks before the Vance incident.
"There have been backslides," Laufman said.
U.S. Attorney Christy Muncy argued against releasing DeFoor from federal custody. Muncy cited assassination attempts against now-President Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign, the murder of Charlie Kirk and other acts of political violence as reasons DeFoor should remain detained.
She also brought up the fact that DeFoor was still on supervised release for the 2024 vandalism charges when he damaged the Vances' home and the fact that a poem written by DeFoor ends on the line, "and you'll never see me again" as a sign he might try to escape.
Muncy conceded that it isn't entirely clear yet whether DeFoor acted out of political motivations. But she said he walked more than an hour-and-a-half to Vance's house from his parents' Hyde Park residence without breaking any other windows or trespassing elsewhere. And she said he poses a risk to others regardless.
"I know his family is doing the best they can," she said. "But sometimes the best isn't good enough."
Judge Bowman agreed, calling it "very concerning" that DeFoor's mental health crises have "seemed to escalate."
DeFoor will remain in the custody of U.S. Marshals until his next hearing Jan. 20 in federal court.
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