A man suspected of breaking into JD Vance’s Ohio home was detained on Monday, the U.S. Secret Service said.
The man was detained shortly after midnight by Secret Service agents assigned to Vance’s home, east of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, agency spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi told The Associated Press. The suspect has not been named, and no motive has been established.
The Secret Service reported hearing a loud noise at the home close to midnight and found a person who had broken a window with a hammer and was attempting to enter the house, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The man also damaged a Secret Service vehicle, one of the officials said.
The home was empty at the time of the attempted break-in. Vance and his family were out of state, Guglielmi said.
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The Secret Service is working with the Cincinnati Police Department and the U.S. attorney’s office to weigh charging decisions, he added.
Vance was a U.S. senator representing Ohio before becoming vice-president.
In an X post on Monday morning, Vance thanked the public for their support following the incident.
“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 wrote.
“We weren’t even home as we had returned already to DC.
“One request to the media: 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.”
The incident comes amid a rise in violence targeting U.S. lawmakers and political figures, including the killings of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last September and Minnesota state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, who were slaughtered inside their home in June.
U.S. President Donald Trump also faced assassination attempts, including when a bullet grazed his ear during a 2024 election campaign appearance in Butler, Pa.
The gunman had fired eight shots, with one bullet grazing Trump’s ear. The assailant was then fatally shot by a Secret Service counter sniper.
The same year, in a separate incident, Ryan Routh was found guilty of attempting to assassinate the president after he aimed a rifle through shrubbery as the Republican played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach, Fla., country club.
Routh was a North Carolina construction worker who had recently moved to Hawaii.
— With files from The Associated Press
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