A convicted January 6 attacker faces prison. So he went to Mar-a-Lago to see Trump first.
Donald Trump’s $99 digital trading cards depict him as heroic, historic and iconic.
They’re political tools and a tribute to the unquenchable vanity and hero worship that Trump displayed Monday at an exclusive Mar-a-Lago gala, devoted to the Trump trading cards, that attracted at least one man willing to attack the U.S. Capitol in Trump’s name.
Antony Vo, 31, from Indiana, posted a photo of himself on Instagram smiling in a tuxedo as Trump spoke behind a lectern in the background.
That itself would be unremarkable except that Vo was convicted in September on all four federal charges related to his actions during the January 6 insurrection.
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Vo’s attendance at Trump’s event and his stream of unrepentant social media posts strongly suggest Vo won’t be showing remorse at his sentencing Dec. 18 in federal court in Washington, D.C.
It also suggests that loyalty is the only price anyone, no matter their background, need pay to stay in Trump’s orbit.
On a video panel last month, Vo talked about his family having been jailed in Vietnam, adding, “Actually, I feel like the U.S. government might be even treating the ‘J6ers’ worse than what Vietnam did to people in re-education camp.”
Neither Vo nor Trump’s campaign immediately responded to Raw Story’s emails requesting comment.
A jury convicted Vo on four misdemeanor charges:
- 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
- Parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building in a manner that violates federal law.
The maximum sentence for all of the charges combined is three years in prison.
“My mom and I helped stop the vote count for a bit,” Vo bragged on a social media conversation, according to court records.
In another exchange, after Vo said police “pretty much opened up for us,” a friend expressed surprise.
Vo responded, “yeah they stood down and retreated after we clearly outnumbered them.”
He also admitted on social media that he and his mother “stormed” the Capitol. Vo’s mother has not been charged in connection with the riot.
Antony Vo graduated from high school in affluent Hamilton County, Ind., and last attended Indiana University in Bloomington in 2020.
WFYI, Indianapolis’ public broadcaster, quoted a classmate from high school and college as saying Vo was “a really nice guy in high school” who “just kind of became a crazy Trump guy.”
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Last year on Facebook, someone wrote to Vo: “My friend you are better than this, there is no justification for attacking our democratic election and more importantly elected officials and OUR CAPITOL.”
Vo dismissed the person, saying, “People were there peacefully save for violent provocateurs that you Democrats have had a history of seeding Trump events with to make them look bad.”
Vo’s current profile on X, formerly Twitter, says he’s a “J6 wrongful convict.”
There is also a symbol devoted to Eris, the Greek goddess of strife and discord.
In a post from this month, Vo remained defiant.
“Voter fraud is real and rampant,” he wrote, “and that is why they are jailing J6’ers for daring to speak out about it.”
The same night that Vo was at Mar-a-Lago, Trump mocked President Joe Biden and praised Chinese President Xi Jinping, two days before the leaders met at a summit.
Trump himself is facing 91 felony counts across four criminal cases for charges that include racketeering, unlawful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit forgery and falsifying business records.
Trump is also in the midst of a civil trial that could lead to him losing control of large parts of his business empire.