The 26-year-old man charged with vandalizing Vice President Vance’s Cincinnati home is the son of a prominent Democratic donor and demanded that authorities call him “Julia” upon his arrest, according to federal sources.

William DeFoor was taken into custody early Monday morning after allegedly smashing windows at the Vice President’s residence. Following his detention by the Secret Service and subsequent transfer to the Cincinnati Police Department, FBI sources told Fox News that Mr. DeFoor insisted on being referred to as “Julia.”

He has been booked on charges of vandalism, obstruction of official business, criminal damaging or endangering, and criminal trespass. 

Mr. DeFoor is the son of a successful pediatric urologist and Harvard graduate who serves as a professor at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine. Federal records indicate that the elder DeFoor is a longtime supporter of the Democratic Party, having donated thousands of dollars to the campaigns of President Biden and Vice President Harris in 2020 and 2024.

The incident occurred early Monday when Mr. DeFoor allegedly attempted to break into the Vance family home in Cincinnati’s Hyde Park neighborhood around midnight. The Secret Service confirmed that Mr. DeFoor broke windows on the exterior of the residence. Neither Mr. Vance nor his family were in Ohio at the time; they had already returned to the vice president’s official residence in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Vance addressed the situation in a statement posted to X later that morning, characterizing the suspect as a “crazy person.”

“I appreciate everyone’s well wishes about the attack at our home,” Mr. Vance wrote. “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. We weren’t even home as we had returned already to DC.”

Mr. DeFoor has a documented history of legal issues intersecting with mental health concerns. In October 2024, a Hamilton County Court found him incompetent by reason of mental illness and granted his mother legal guardianship, Fox News reported.

His run-ins with the law include an April 2023 charge for trespassing at the University of Cincinnati Health Psychiatric Emergency Services, where he refused to leave the premises. That case was dismissed after he was ruled incompetent to stand trial. In 2024, he faced two counts of vandalism for breaking windows at a Hyde Park business; instead of a conviction, the case was referred to a mental health docket, and he was ordered to undergo treatment.

Mr. DeFoor, once hailed as a candidate for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, attended the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music for two years before appearing to drop out in 2020.