An Indiana man who fled the United States to avoid serving a nine-month prison sentence for storming the U.S. Capitol was arrested in Canada this week on the fourth anniversary of the mob’s attack.
Antony Vo was arrested “without incident” in Whistler, British Columbia, on Monday, said Canada Border Services Agency spokesperson Rebecca Purdy. Vo remained in custody on Thursday, according to an immigration lawyer who represents him.
Over 1,500 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related crimes. Vo is among more than 700 Jan. 6 defendants to be sentenced to imprisonment. But he defied a court order to report to prison last year.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., sentenced Vo in April and ordered him to report to prison on June 14.
Vo hasn’t kept a low profile since he absconded. On social media, he frequently posts about his case and promotes conspiracy theories about Jan. 6. He has given several interviews to reporters, saying he expects to be pardoned by President-elect Donald Trump later this month.
Vo has also used social media to taunt and criticize the judge who sentenced him, claiming he was “wrongfully convicted by a kangaroo court.”
My entire family hated Chutkan! It’s like we could sense the commie in her,” Vo posted in December.
Vo had also posted conspiracy theories about Jan. 6, 2021, on his social media account.
Vo has said he was pursuing a political asylum claim in Canada with help from a Saskatchewan-based immigration attorney. He told The Toronto Sun that he was “pretty much 99% sure” that Trump will pardon him once he takes office on Jan. 20.
“I really don’t have any reason to doubt it,” Vo told the newspaper.
Trump has vowed to pardon Capitol rioters on his first day back in the White House, referring to them as “political prisoners” and “hostages.” Trump has said he will look at individuals on a case-by-case basis but has not explained how he will decide who receives such relief.
Oluwadamilola Asuni, the immigration attorney helping Vo with an asylum claim, said he expects him to remain in Canadian custody pending a detention review hearing next Wednesday in British Columbia.
Purdy said the border agency has no record of Vo entering Canada at any “official port of entry.” Vo was arrested on a warrant issued under an immigration law. In 2024, the border agency removed more than 14,000 foreign nationals from Canada for violating the same law, according to Purdy.
Defense attorney Carmen Hernandez, who represents Vo in his Jan. 6 case, said she learned of Vo’s arrest in Canada from news reports.
“All I can say is that I have not heard from him since he was arrested,” Hernandez said.
Vo entered the Capitol with his mother after they drove from his home in Bloomington, Indiana, to attend then-President Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House four years ago. Another rioter took a photo of Vo standing next to his mother, Annie Vo, in the Capitol’s Rotunda as he raised a flag above his head.
Government exhibit
Prosecutors allege Vo was inside the Capitol for approximately 27 minutes, snapping photos and yelling “Freedom!” while moving through the Capitol complex.
At a court hearing in April, prosecutors argued Vo had already demonstrated a pattern of defiance against the court system. Vo was accused of violating his pretrial release conditions by attending a protest outside of the Washington, D.C., jail in support of Jan. 6 rioters. The judge placed a curfew on Vo during his case, due to violations of court orders, according to the Justice Department’s filings.
In a court filing, prosecutors said, “Vo’s complete lack of remorse for his actions on January 6 should also animate the Court’s decision regarding his sentence. Within minutes of leaving the Capitol building on January 6, Vo used text messages and social media to brag about intimidating police officers, halting the vote count, and storming the building. His lack of contrition continued after his trial when he repeatedly used social media to dispute his guilt, where he called himself a ‘J6 wrongful convict.'”
A jury convicted Vo of four misdemeanors after a trial in September 2023.
Vo later told the judge that he was “sorry that January 6 happened,” according to a transcript of his sentencing hearing.
“I know I shouldn’t have been there that day,” he said.
Chutkan, who oversaw Trump’s 2020 election interference case, said it appeared that Vo has no respect for the court or for the rule of law. She warned him that failing to report to prison as instructed could result in more criminal charges.
“He apparently has a different view of the Constitution and a different view of the seriousness of his actions. He’s entitled to that view, but what he’s being sentenced here today are for his actions,” the judge said.
A jury trial for Annie Vo is scheduled to start on March 10.
Scott MacFarlane
contributed to this report.
