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Vandal in custody after brazen attack on JD Vance’s Ohio home

U.S. Secret Service personnel captured a 26-year-old man who allegedly attacked the Cincinnati home of Vice President JD Vance early Monday morning.

Hamilton County Justice Center records indicate that the suspect, William DeFoor, has been charged with criminal trespass, criminal damaging or endangering, obstructing official business, and felony vandalism.

Vance expressed gratitude to the U.S. Secret Service and the Cincinnati police and noted, “As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows.”

‘We try to protect our kids as much as possible.’

The vice president indicated that he and his family were not home at the time of the “attack” as they had already returned to the national capital. While the Vance family was in Cincinnati last week, they reportedly left on Sunday afternoon.

Two law enforcement officials who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity indicated that the Secret Service heard a commotion at the house around midnight and found that an individual had not only vandalized a Secret Service vehicle parked in the driveway but had smashed a window and was attempting to steal into the house.

RELATED: ‘Something historic’: CNN analyst GOBSMACKED by how Vance polls against Nikki Haley, others

Photo by Oliver Contreras-Pool/Getty Images

According to an arrest report obtained by WLWT-TV, the suspect — who has since been taken into custody by the Cincinnati Police Department — was spotted both by a USSS agent as well as on security footage damaging four windows along with the vehicle.

USSS spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that the suspect was detained shortly after midnight.

Court documents indicate that DeFoor pleaded guilty in April 2025 to two counts of vandalism after he inflicted over $2,000 worth of damage to a Ohio interior design company, reported WXIX-TV. DeFoor was sentenced to two years of treatment at a mental health facility and ordered to pay $5,550 in restitution.

There has been an outpouring of support for the vice president in the wake of the incident. While many have signaled relief the Vance family is OK, others have questioned how a miscreant could get so close to their home in the first place.

In the wake of the incident, Vance emphasized that “we try to protect our kids as much as possible from the realities of this life of public service,” and he intimated that the news media shouldn’t circulate images of his home with holes in the window.

This is hardly the first time that a maladjusted individual has descended on one of Vance’s residences.

In April, a mob of liberals rallied outside the vice president’s Washington, D.C., residence, vilifying him and calling him a “fascist” as well as “America’s Himmler,” referring to the architect of Nazi Germany’s so-called “final solution,” Heinrich Himmler.

One month earlier, another mob of liberals assembled outside Vance’s Cincinnati home to protest actions taken by the Trump administration.

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​Radicalism, Leftism, Jd vance, Vance, William defoor, Radical, Terrorism, Trespassing, Politics 

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‘Reckless and seditious’: Hegseth issues brutal demotion of Democrat senator over ‘illegal orders’ video

The Department of War is ramping up its efforts to punish Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over his involvement in what President Donald Trump and his administration have described as a “seditious” video.

At Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s direction, the department is set to cut Kelly’s military retirement pay for an alleged “pattern of reckless misconduct,” namely the video of Democrat lawmakers calling for servicemen to disobey “illegal orders” from the president. The DOW also issued a letter of censure to Kelly, which “outlines the totality of Captain (for now) Kelly’s reckless misconduct.”

‘Kelly’s status as a sitting United States Senator does not exempt him from accountability.’

“Six weeks ago, Senator Mark Kelly — and five other members of Congress — released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline,” Hegseth said in a post on X. “As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice.”

“And the Department of War — and the American people — expect justice.”

RELATED: ‘Ridiculous charade’: Bill O’Reilly torches Democrat senator over ‘seditious’ political stunt

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Hegseth justified the response by arguing that Kelly’s prominence as a senator does not give him special privileges, citing specific articles Kelly may have violated.

“Captain Kelly’s status as a sitting United States Senator does not exempt him from accountability, and further violations could result in further action,” Hegseth said. “These actions are based on Captain Kelly’s public statements from June through December 2025 in which he characterized lawful military operations as illegal and counseled members of the Armed Forces to refuse lawful orders.”

“This conduct was seditious in nature and violated Articles 133 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, to which Captain Kelly remains subject as a retired officer receiving pay.”

RELATED: Pentagon says court-martial possible for Sen. Mark Kelly after Trump calls him a ‘traitor’ for ‘seditious’ video

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Kelly fired back at Hegseth, calling him unqualified and accusing him of targeting lawmakers for simply opposing the administration.

“Over twenty-five years in the U.S. Navy, thirty-nine combat missions, and four missions to space, I risked my life for this country and to defend our Constitution – including the First Amendment rights of every American to speak out,” Kelly said in a post on X. “I never expected that the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense would attack me for doing exactly that.”

“Pete Hegseth wants to send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way,” Kelly added. “It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.”

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​Illegal orders, Pete hegseth, Department of war, Donald trump, Trump administration, Mark kelly, Seditious six, Seditious, Democrats, Democrat senators, Congress, Military retirement, Politics 

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The Venezuela crisis was never just about drugs

For decades, the United States focused its counterterrorism efforts on the Middle East and Asia. Meanwhile, a dangerous convergence of international terrorism and transnational crime took root much closer to home. Across Latin America — centered in Venezuela — hostile networks quietly expanded. The Trump administration has finally acted. How the United States manages Venezuela’s transition to legitimate leadership now carries direct national security consequences.

The media frames U.S. action against Venezuela as a narco-trafficking problem. The threat runs far deeper.

Allowing hostile powers to entrench themselves in the Western Hemisphere threatens not just economic interests but national survival.

Hezbollah, backed by Iran, began building a Latin American presence as early as the mid-1980s. What started as fundraising and money laundering in the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay grew into a sprawling criminal-terrorist network. That network carried out devastating attacks in Argentina during the 1990s. Over time, Hezbollah expanded into recruitment, training, and operational planning, embedding itself across the region.

The threat escalated sharply in 2012, when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad forged a strategic alliance with Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez. That partnership gave Iran a state sponsor in the Western Hemisphere and dramatically expanded its reach. Iran gained the ability to move money, oil, and personnel throughout the region and even established drone-production capabilities inside Venezuela.

U.S. law enforcement recognized the danger. The Drug Enforcement Administration launched Project Cassandra to investigate Hezbollah’s evolution into a global crime syndicate. The DEA tracked cocaine shipments from Latin America through West Africa into Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. Investigators uncovered a network believed to generate roughly $1 billion annually through drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, and money laundering.

The Obama administration later curtailed Project Cassandra in pursuit of a nuclear agreement with Iran. That decision left much of the criminal-terrorist infrastructure intact. Its consequences persist. Hezbollah-linked networks still operate across the region with minimal interference.

Under Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela functioned as both a failed state and a logistical lifeline for Iran. The regime facilitated the movement of operatives and equipment throughout Latin America and beyond. In return, Iran supplied Venezuela’s oil sector with blending materials and refining equipment, helping Maduro evade sanctions and cling to power.

Venezuela also issued hundreds of passports and national IDs to individuals from the Middle East, including figures linked to Hezbollah. Those documents allowed operatives to travel freely under new identities, posing a direct threat to U.S. and regional security. The ability to move undetected across borders remains one of the most valuable tools available to terrorist organizations, and Venezuela provided it willingly.

Recognizing the gravity of the threat, the Trump administration took unprecedented steps. After imposing an oil blockade and designating the Maduro regime a foreign terrorist organization, U.S. authorities captured Maduro to face justice in the United States.

For the first time in a century, the Western Hemisphere now anchors the U.S. National Security Strategy. The Trump administration’s corollary to the Monroe Doctrine commits the United States to denying non-hemispheric powers — including Iran, Russia, China, and Turkey — the ability to position forces or control strategic assets in the Americas.

RELATED: The pernicious myth that America doesn’t win wars

Photo by AFP via Getty Images

Evidence of coordination with America’s adversaries is not speculative. Russia’s Foreign Ministry openly acknowledged Venezuela as a strategic partner, citing what it called the “deliberate escalation of tensions” around a friendly nation. Russia arms Venezuela’s military, built a Kalashnikov rifle factory inside the country, and protects key installations with S-300 surface-to-air missile systems.

China played a parallel role. Beijing became Venezuela’s largest oil customer and financed more than $60 billion in projects. Roughly 7% of China’s oil imports came from Venezuela, propping up the Maduro regime while fueling China’s economy.

As left-wing governments across Latin America gave way to more pro-American leadership, Venezuela’s isolation only increased its value to hostile powers. It became a forward operating base against the United States.

Consider the implications. Iranian ballistic missiles — capable of inflicting serious damage even without nuclear warheads — stationed in Venezuela would sit on America’s doorstep. Add Russian or Chinese nuclear capabilities, and the risk escalates from strategic challenge to strategic catastrophe.

Allowing hostile powers to entrench themselves in the Western Hemisphere threatens not just economic interests but national survival. The fusion of terrorist and criminal networks inside Venezuela posed a clear and present danger that demanded decisive action.

The United States must remain firm in its commitment to a secure, sovereign hemisphere. Ignoring threats in our own back yard invites disaster. And the regime in Tehran understands that reality better than most — nervously, right now more than ever.

​Opinion & analysis, Venezuela, Nicolas maduro, Donald trump, Monroe doctrine, Donroe doctrine, Oil, Iran, Russia, China, Drugs, Drug war, Maga, Hugo chavez, Project cassandra, Middle east, Jihad, National security 

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‘Very sick too’: Trump sets sights on more countries after successful Venezuela operation

Over the weekend, the Trump administration successfully captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. In the hours and days following the successful operation, Trump suggested that Venezuela is only the start of his efforts to retake control of the Western Hemisphere.

Talking to the press aboard Air Force One on Sunday night, President Trump set his sights on two more countries that he says need to be reined in.

‘Sounds good to me.’

“Colombia is very sick too. Run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States. And he’s not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you,” Trump said to reporters aboard Air Force One.

RELATED: ‘We’re going to run it’: Trump reveals Venezuela’s fate following Maduro’s capture

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Trump suggested that the president of Colombia runs “cocaine mills and cocaine factories,” but they will not be running for much longer.

When asked if there would be an operation in Colombia to cut off the alleged drug trafficking and corruption, Trump told reporters, “Sounds good to me.”

Trump added that Cuban leadership has “only survived because of Venezuela” when asked if similar operations were planned in the country.

Similarly President Trump on Sunday added that “we need Greenland for national security.”

“If you take a look at Greenland … you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” Trump said.

On Monday morning, Trump reiterated the message that the United States needs Greenland for “national security.” Trump lightly mocked Denmark’s handling of the territory, saying, “You know what Denmark did recently to boost up security in Greenland? They added one more dog sled. It’s true!”

The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer has signaled his disapproval of Trump’s push for Greenland. Starmer told the BBC Monday that “only Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark” should “decide the future of Greenland.”

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​Politics, Air force one, President trump, Venezuela, Maduro, Trump administration, Trump, United states, Cuba, Colombia, Greenland, Keir starmer 

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Knife-wielding person advances toward homeowner who complained about car vandalism, cops say. But homeowner is wielding gun.

Investigators in Arizona said a homeowner and his family member confronted an individual after 1 a.m. Friday after discovering knife damage on two of their vehicles, InMaricopa.com reported.

With that, the person reportedly advanced toward the homeowner while holding a knife, the outlet said.

‘I love it! That’s justice!!! He definitely found out!’

Unfortunately for the person reportedly holding the knife, the homeowner was holding a gun — and used it.

When Maricopa Police officers arrived at the scene on West Thornberry Lane in Homestead, they found an individual shot in the leg, the outlet said.

That person was taken to a hospital and was awaiting surgery as of Friday morning, police told InMaricopa.com.

RELATED: Armed male allegedly stalking his ex forces entry into her Florida home. But victim’s husband is there — and also has a gun.

Image source: Maricopa (Ariz.) Police

Turns out that officers later found other cars in the area with similar knife damage, police added to the outlet.

The homeowner who pulled trigger is not being charged with a crime, as it appears he was acting in self-defense, the outlet noted.

However, the wounded person is facing charges, InMaricopa.com said, adding that the investigation remains ongoing.

Commenters reacting to the outlet’s story on Facebook appeared solidly behind the homeowner’s actions.

“F’d around and found out,” one commenter said.”Lucky it was only his leg shot. Just saying. Good for the homeowner!” another user noted.”I mean, torturing my horse would get death — so why wouldn’t touching my vastly improved horse replacement that, at one time, took years of my life to pay for and develop into a usable vehicle?” another commenter quipped.”I love it! That’s justice!!! He definitely found out!” another user declared.”Sounds like the criminal deserved it — but will probably still sue homeowner for his injuries,” another commenter predicted.

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​2nd amend., Arizona, Cars vandalized, Homeowner, Homestead, Knife, Maricopa police, Self-defense, Shooting, Wounded, Crime 

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‘Faces of meth’: How Antifa radicalizes its foot soldiers

Antifa first rose to mainstream prominence during the summer riots of 2020. While how the group managed to recruit so many young people has remained a mystery to most Americans, domestic security expert Kyle Shideler knows its methods well.

“So as to the psychological perspective, you know, you talk about those mug shots. There’s almost, like, if you look at, over the course of 2020, there’s almost like a ‘faces of meth’ campaign,” domestic security expert Kyle Shideler tells BlazeTV hosts Christopher Rufo and Jonathan “Lomez” Keeperman on “Rufo & Lomez.”

“You see them at their first arrest, and they’re kind of fresh-faced and relatively normal-looking, and you see them in the next one and the next one and the next one, and by the end of it, you know, five years later, they’re unrecognizable. Clearly hard living, drugs, homelessness, and the like,” he continues.

“This is part of that affinity-group structure is to suck people in so that the group becomes their only social outlet. … So they get these masses of people out into the streets, and then the goal is to try to get them to engage in some criminal act, right, to get them to step over the line and then bring them further into the group,” he explains.

When they successfully get these college students to commit even just a small crime that could land them in jail, that’s when they organize their “jail support.”

“You pay their bail. You tell them how much you care about them and how the movement’s going to take care of them. They get out of jail, and now they’re, you know, more tightly bound to the group. And that’s what we saw all through 2020,” Schideler says.

“And that’s what these things are really for,” he explains. “The large-scale mass-movement protests, from the point of view of Antifa, it’s to slowly weed through and bring people further and further along into radicalization to be willing to do more and more radical things.”

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​Video phone, Sharing, Camera phone, Upload, Video, Free, Youtube.com, Rufo & lomez, Rufo, Chris rufo, Christopher rufo, Jonathan lomez keeperman, Jonathan keeperman, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Antifa, 2020 riots, Faces of meth, Radicalization, Leftists, Liberals, Radical leftists, Left wing violence 

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‘Let others worry’: Scandal-plagued Tim Walz announces he will not seek third term

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) announced in September that he would run for a third term, stating, “I’m staying in the fight — and I need you with me.”

Evidently Walz had neither the requisite fight nor the support to stick it out.

The failed vice presidential candidate announced on Monday that he won’t seek a third term after all.

“I have every confidence that, if I gave it my all, I would succeed in that effort,” said Walz. “But as I reflected on this moment with my family and my team over the holidays, I came to the conclusion that I can’t give a political campaign my all.”

‘They want to poison our people against each other.’

“Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences,” added Walz. “So I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.”

A recent KSTP-TV/SurveyUSA poll of 578 registered voters found that 69% believe Walz needs to do more to stop fraud in Minnesota. According to the poll, Walz’s disapproval rating was 48%.

Incredible graft has taken place in the Gopher State under Walz’s nose, including the the student aid fraud plaguing Minnesota’s publicly funded schools as well as the historic fraud allegedly committed by members of the Somali community in relation to coronavirus relief funding and taxpayer-subsidized day-care facilities.

RELATED: Tim Walz’s nightmare continues as HHS shuts off $185M to Minnesota amid allegedly ‘fake’ Somali day care centers

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images

The Trump administration and Congress have launched investigations into the apparent widespread fraud that has taken place in Walz’s back yard, and some officials have called for Walz to resign.

Walz claimed that he is “passing on the race with zero sadness and zero regret” and suggested both that he is confident a fellow traveler will run for governor and that he will “find ways to contribute to the state” after he leaves office in January 2027.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) reportedly met with Walz on Sunday evening. Two individuals briefed on their conversation told the New York Times that Klobuchar is considering jumping into the race to succeed Walz.

Blaze News has reached out to Klobuchar’s office for comment.

Walz used up a great deal of room in his Monday statement criticizing President Donald Trump and his allies, suggesting they want to make Minnesota “a colder, meaner place. They want to poison our people against each other by attacking our neighbors. And, ultimately, they want to take away much of what makes Minnesota the best place in America to raise a family.”

The governor cited as an example of this supposed cruelty the Trump administration’s pause on child-care payments to Minnesota.

Department of Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill announced on Dec. 30 that funds from the Administration for Children and Families — $185 million of which the Gopher State receives yearly — were being paused as the result of “shocking and credible allegations of extensive fraud in Minnesota’s child-care programs.”

“We believe the state of Minnesota has allowed scammers and fake day cares to siphon millions of taxpayer dollars over the past decade,” added O’Neill.

While acknowledging that fraud in the state government was a legitimate concern and that the “buck stops with [him],” Walz suggested that Republicans were somehow making his “fight harder to win.”

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​Tim walz, Walz, Minnesota, Somali, Somalian, Democrat, Leftist, Guvernatorial, Klobuchar, Senate, Fraud, Scandal, Day care, Politics