As Antony Vo and his mother approached the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, the Indiana native was reminded of the closing scene of the 2005 dystopian political film, V for Vendetta.
In it, throngs of black-clad revolutionaries in matching Guy Fawkes masks descend on Parliament, intent on destroying it, before forces for a fictionalized fascist regime are ordered to stand down.
“At the very end of the movie, the populace was walking towards police officers at Parliament, who let them through. I thought that was what was going on [on Jan. 6],” Vo told Pique. “I looked towards law enforcement for guidance, and from their behaviour, interacting with protesters, they looked like they were letting people in.”
Vo, 32, is wanted on charges stemming from the riots that left more than 100 police officers injured and sent legislators scrambling for safety as they met to certify U.S. President Joe Biden’s 2020 election. Facing nine months behind bars, in December Vo entered Canada via Saskatchewan, before filing a refugee claim in Edmonton and eventually landing, on Christmas Eve, in Whistler, where he plans to snowboard and wait for President-elect Donald Trump to fulfil his promise to pardon the Jan. 6 rioters.
“I’ve been an Epic Pass member for three seasons and … I’ve always wanted to come to Whistler and never had the chance to,” Vo said in explaining why he chose to come to the resort community.
The fugitive said his time in Whistler so far has been positive.
“It’s been lovely, man. Everybody I’ve met here has been so kind and I’ve made lots of friends here,” he said, adding he’s made friends on “both sides” of the political spectrum.
“People I’ve met in person have only been positive. People who only know me from online coverage, they can get very uppity, but I think they’re misinformed, so I forgive them for that."
Vo, who was photographed inside the Capital with his mother, is one of more than 1,500 people charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6 riots. More than 1,000 defendants have pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial. Vo was convicted on four charges, including disorderly conduct in a restricted building. Court records showed Vo admitted in two Instagram exchanges to “storming” the Capitol.
Insisting he witnessed no violence on Jan. 6, Vo said he and his mother left the building without incident after an officer asked them to leave. Of course, there was violence that day, much of it captured on video. Officers fighting rioters on the frontlines suffered broken bones, chemical burns, and brain injuries, a bipartisan Senate report found, and a rioter was shot and killed by police. Attackers also did more than US$2.7 million worth of damage to the Capitol.
As one of his first acts back in office, Trump has vowed to free the Jan. 6 rioters from what he called “wrongful imprisonment,” but stopped short of promising a blanket pardon. If Trump doesn’t issue him a pardon, Vo said he would continue to pursue his refugee claim and “try to make my political voice heard and use my case to help disrupt the corruption in the U.S.”
It remains to be seen how viable Vo’s refugee claim really is. Claims from the U.S. are exceedingly rare, with only 142 from January to September last year, out of nearly 147,000 total claims from all countries, as reported by The Toronto Star. None of the refugee claims from Americans were accepted in that time.
Asked if he saw any irony in claiming asylum in a country Trump has criticized for its supposedly socialist-leaning policies and weak borders, Vo said he counted on Canada’s “rich history of supporting the politically persecuted.
“Edward Snowden’s shelterers were given asylum in Canada. Vietnam war dodgers were given political asylum in Canada,” he said. “I look towards not how Canada may or may not be in the moment, but it’s rich history as a bastion of freedom.”
Through his flurry of recent media attention, it’s clear Vo has cast himself as the V-like figure fighting injustice in the political movie of his mind.
“There’s a lot of tyranny and corruption in the world, and I want to do my part to bring light to it,” he said. “A lot of us have tried to do that, and I’m very lucky compared to other January 6ers and I need to use my fortune to speak out.”
