A defense attorney had a pretty heated exchange with the judge presiding over the sentencing of a man who was found guilty of participating in the deadly U.S. Capitol insurrection.
Anthony Vo, 31, will spend nine months in prison for his participation in the riots on Jan. 6, 2021. He’ll also have to spend a year under supervised release and pay a $1,000 fine. He was convicted of four misdemeanor counts last September.
In a bio on one of his social media accounts, Vo called himself a “J6 wrongful convict.” After he was found guilty, he wrote that the trial included “zero jury of (his) peers,” and added that it was “100% a kangaroo court.”
During his sentencing hearing, Vo’s defense attorney Carmen Hernandez argued with Judge Tanya Chutkan, who presided over the proceeding, on several matters.
CBS News congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane tweeted about the “tense moments” during the hearing.
Hernandez not only challenged a pre-sentencing report containing Vo’s social media comments the FBI relied on as evidence to charge him but also kept trying to get the “sentencing delayed.”
Hernandez also claimed Vo didn’t violate the “spirit” of any conditions of his release when he attended a nightly protest outside a D.C. jail in support of Jan. 6 rioters who had been detained there. She called the gathering a “prayer vigil.”
“Are you serious?” Chutkan responded. She rebuked Hernandez’s claim, saying that Vo wasn’t at a “prayer session,” but that he was “singing in support for those in pretrial detention for violent crimes.”
The Associated Press reported that Chutkan also rolled her eyes and shook her head when she learned from a prosecutor that the vigil’s organizers referred to that gathering spot outside the jail as “Freedom Corner.”
“Is that what’s it’s called? Freedom Corner?” Chutkan asked, according to The AP.
Vo’s attorney also voiced her discomfort with a tipster letting a probation office know about her client’s participation in the protest, citing her immigrant status as the reason, which Chutkan also rebuffed.
The FBI gathered photos and videos from Vo’s Facebook and Instagram accounts that show he and his mother were at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. His mother has also been charged.
In one online conversation, Vo wrote statements like, “President [Trump] asked me to be here tomorrow so I am with my mom LOL,” and, “My mom and I helped stop the vote count for a bit.”
In another exchange, he said police “pretty much opened up for us,” and that “they stood down and retreated after we clearly outnumbered them.”
During Vo’s sentencing, Chutkan said none of the rioters should be called heroes or hostages for their actions. She stated that Vo has “doubled down on his behavior,” noting how he has refused to express remorse for his own conduct.
Referencing the “kangaroo court” comment Vo made months ago, Chutkan said she’s been “called worse,” and is “thick-skinned.”
Before he was sentenced, Vo told the judge he was “sorry for everything,” and added that he “wasn’t there to overthrow any democratic process or anything.”
“I don’t believe Mr. Vo thinks the law applies to him,” Chutkan said in her ruling.
Hernandez claimed Chutkan was “more harsh” in her sentencing of Jan. 6 defendants than other judges, calling her an “outlier.”
“I may be an outlier, as Ms. Hernandez suggests,” Chutkan said. “I don’t necessarily think I am.”
Chutkan will also oversee former President Donald Trump’s federal election meddling trial, which has been postponed.
More than 1,300 people have charged with federal crimes connected to the insurrection, according to AP. Many of them are still awaiting trial or a plea deal to resolve their cases.
