Former Indiana University student convicted for participation in riot on U.S. Capitol
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Correction: This post was updated to correct the date on which the attack happened.
A Bloomington man and former Indiana University student who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection has been found guilty of four federal crimes.
Antony Vo, who had claimed on social media that former President Donald Trump told him to come to Washington, D.C., was convicted Friday.
A jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found Vo guilty of:
Entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds
Disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds
Disorderly conduct in a capitol building or grounds
Parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building.
On Jan. 6, 2021, rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, about 140 police officers were assaulted that day at the Capitol, including about 80 from the U.S. Capitol Police and about 60 from the Metropolitan Police Department.
More than 1,100 defendants have been charged in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the DOJ said. That includes Trump, who faces three counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States.
More than 600 federal defendants have had their cases adjudicated and received sentences for their criminal activity on Jan. 6. Nearly 400 have been sentenced to periods of incarceration, according to the DOJ.
Former Indiana University student: Trump 'asked me to be here'
Vo posted to his Facebook and Instagram accounts images and video that showed him inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to the arrest warrant filed June 7, 2021 by Detective Joseph Henry of the Bloomington Police Department.
Police also obtained conversations Vo had via his social media accounts.
In one conversation, Vo wrote, “President (Trump) asked me to be here tomorrow, so I am here with my mom LOL.”
He also said the results of the 2020 presidential election were fraudulent, he and his mom “helped stop the vote count for a bit” and he and his mother “stormed” the Capitol, according to court documents.
Allegations of massive voting fraud during the 2020 election have been refuted by judges, state election officials and an arm of Trump’s own administration’s Homeland Security Department, according to the Associated Press. “No case has established irregularities of a scale that would change the outcome,” the news agency said.
From the archive: Bloomfield woman to be first person sentenced for role in Capitol riot
At about 2:20 p.m. on Jan. 6, members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, including Vice President Mike Pence, were instructed to evacuate the chambers. The joint session to count electoral votes was suspended until shortly after 8 p.m., court records show.
The FBI investigated Vo because it received “several tips” about Vo’s activity on social media. One of the tipsters provided the FBI with a screenshot from Vo’s Facebook page, which showed him at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Another witness provided screen captures of Vo’s Instagram account.
Henry, the BPD detective and task force officer with the FBI, wrote based on his knowledge of the events of that day, a photo showed Vo "inside the Capitol after it was breached by rioters.” Records police obtained through a search warrant revealed conversations in which Vo acknowledged being present in the Capitol building that day, according to the report.
Vo’s sentencing has been set for 10 a.m. Dec. 12.
Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Former IU student convicted for participating in 2021 Capitol riot
