Jan. 6 convict arrested in Canada on anniversary of 2021 Capitol riot

Antony Vo was snowboarding in Whistler, B.C., while seeking asylum and waiting out an expected pardon from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump

Published Jan 10, 2025  •  Last updated 0 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

Antony Vo and his mother, Annie Vo, pictured inside and outside the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021. Photo by District of Columbia /U.S. Attorney's Office

Four years to the day that Antony Vo was part of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol building, the 32-year-old from Indiana was arrested in Whistler, B.C., and will be sent back to the U.S. where a prison sentence awaits him for his part in the 2021 insurrection.

In early December, Vo revealed in a post to X that he’d fled to Canada and was seeking temporary asylum while expecting U.S. president-elect Donald Trump to act on an oft-repeated pledge to pardon all those convicted of non-violent crimes on Jan. 6.  on his first day in office.

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When Vo’s story garnered widespread media attention thereafter, the Bloomington man clarified that he was spending his time snowboarding and met with both CBC and CTV for in-person interviews in the heart of the resort village.

Asked by one reporter if he felt he was a fugitive, Vo agreed but also said he is “by definition, a convention refugee” — a person who fears persecution if returned to their home country.

U.S. Capitol riot fugitive seeking brief asylum in Canada while expecting pardon from Trump

As far as the Canada Border Services Agency is concerned, Vo is a “fugitive from U.S. justice” and found to be “inadmissible” under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

With the law requiring the agency to “remove all foreign nationals” deemed as such, Vo was located and arrested without incident on Monday, according to a CBSA spokesperson.

A few days before New Year’s Eve, Vo told Indiana’s WISH-TV that he was holding off on the requested meeting with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada until he could be sure he wouldn’t be handed over to the U.S.

Before his arrest, Vo told Whistler’s Pique News that he entered Canada via Saskatchewan. He later explained to CTV that he provided refugee claimant documentation on government letterhead which allowed him “irregular entry” while seeking asylum.

He then travelled to Edmonton where said he initiated contact with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. On Christmas Eve, he took off for Whistler to take advantage of his “Epic Pass” — a pass for skiing and snowboarding access at resorts in the U.S., Canada and around the world.

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The CBSA said it has no record of Vo entering the country at the Regway, Sask., border crossing located at the Montana border, “or any other official port of entry.”

The agency won’t disclose if Vo remains in Canada or has been sent home.

Unless the pardon comes through, he is facing a nine-month prison sentence at a facility in his home state for the four misdemeanours he was convicted of in September 2023 after a two-year court process.

Vo has maintained it was “a show trial with zero jury of peers and a biased judge, prosecution, and neutered defense” conducted in a “corrupt kangaroo court.”

Vo was not alone on Jan. 6, 2021. He was joined at times by his mother, Annie Vo, believed to be in her late 60s at the time. She was arrested in March 2024 and faces the same charges for which her son was convicted — entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; violent entry or disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Her case has yet to be called.

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