An Indiana man convicted of storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 with his mom has reportedly applied for asylum in Canada — and is already living there — after failing to report to prison over the summer.
Summary
Antony Vo, convicted for participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots alongside his mother, has fled to Canada and applied for asylum instead of reporting to prison to serve a nine-month sentence.
Vo claims his conviction was “political persecution” and part of a government conspiracy.
Currently living in Canada with his mother, who also faces federal charges, Vo believes Trump will pardon Jan. 6 rioters.
U.S. authorities have been actively searching for him, while his asylum application remains under review by Canadian officials.
What a whiney bitch that doesn't take responsibility for being an easy dupe that went on to violate the law in several ways. How is any of this political persecution?! It's collective mental disorder, that we may all end up paying for.
You have to understand though, these people are cowards who absolutely do not think the laws or rules should apply to them, because they've never faced any consequences in their life up to this point.
It's a mistake to assume because he's been voted in his base has nothing left to offer.
For him to fully seize permanent autocratic power or even implement the most horrific parts of his agenda, he needs Congress to stay under his thumb. The pardon will cost him nothing, and keep his base rabid, which will keep Congress in line.
Edit: A few important additional reasons:
Trump never admits he's wrong and never forgets being "wronged."
Pardons continue to overwrite history of Jan. 6th with the narrative he was the victim.
They help create noise to drown out signal as to whether it was an insurrection, demotivating people to further seek justice.
They solidify further his claim related prosecutions (including of him by extension) were politically motivated.
They demoralize his opponents by subjugating reality to his own narrative (a classic Putin move, maybe not coincidentally).
It's doubtful he consciously thought any of this through. If probably just "feels right" to him. But in typical Trump fashion, by pardoning those involved, he'd be doing something deeply nefarious for coincidentally shallow narcissistic and instinctive reasons.
“I really thought that the police were keeping their oaths to the constitution and were stepping aside to let us exercise our constitutionally guaranteed rights,” he told WISH. “I thought it was totally permitted.”
on one hand, this is so dumb that i have a very hard time believing anyone would actually think this. on the other hand, he is a trump supporter, and he did walk into the capital with his mom and then take pictures of it. i’m really at a loss here.
Some 4d chess there. When Canada becomes the 51st state, they’ll have to extradite him. But when Canada becomes the 51st state, all Jan 6ers will be pardoned.