Ellie Kemp
JD Vance has spoken out after a man was arrested for 'hammering' his Ohio home this morning (January 5).
The suspect was physically detained by US Secret Service officers just after midnight and has since been taken into custody by the Cincinnati Police Department, the agency said, via Fox News.
The individual, since identified as 26-year-old William DeFoore, has been charged with one count of obstructing official business, one count of criminal damaging or endangering and one count of criminal trespass and one count of vandalism, Fox News reports.
He is believed to have caused property damage, including breaking windows on the exterior of a home, a Secret Service spokesperson, Anthony Guglielmi, said.
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Police said that the family weren't in the property, nor in Ohio, at the time of the incident.
A law enforcement official told CNN that they did not gain access to or enter the home, and that authorities were investigating whether the suspect was targeting Vance or his family.
Now, the Vice President himself has addressed the situation and given his thanks to the emergency services.
Taking to X, Vance said: "I appreciate everyone's well wishes about the attack at our home. As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows. I'm grateful to the Secret Service and the Cincinnati police for responding quickly."
He added that his family wasn't home at the time and 'had returned already to DC'.
The 41-year-old concluded with 'one request to the media,' writing: "We try to protect our kids as much as possible from the realities of this life of public service.
"In that light, I am skeptical of the news value of plastering images of our home with holes in the windows."
Vance had been in Cincinnati as recently as last weekend, however, Fox News added.
The Secret Service is coordinating with the Cincinnati Police Department and the US Attorney’s Office as prosecutors to review potential charges.
A spokesperson for the Vice President previously said Vance returned to Cincinnati after the operation in Venezuela to take President Nicolás Maduro into custody concluded on Saturday.
It comes as tensions between Washington and Caracas continue to escalate following the US’s shock intervention in Venezuela, which saw Maduro removed and Delcy Rodríguez installed as acting president.
Despite Donald Trump claiming the country has been brought under US control, Rodríguez has openly rejected American demands and framed the intervention as a violation of international law, raising fears of a prolonged standoff over Venezuela’s oil resources.
Trump told The Atlantic that Rodríguez could pay 'a very big price' if she does not 'do what's right' and cooperate with his demands to hand over Venezuela's nationalized oil industry to American business interests, after they were expropriated over 20 years ago.
But there appears to be little sign from Rodríguez of bending the knee, with the 56-year-old socialist demanding the return of Maduro, who she still views as the country's 'only' leader.