WASHINGTON—Eleven people including Stewart Rhodes, the leader and founder of the right-wing militia group the Oath Keepers, have been indicted on charges of seditious conspiracy, marking an escalation of the Justice Department’s investigation into the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 last year.
An indictment unsealed Thursday accused Mr. Rhodes, 56 years old, of organizing an armed plot to storm the Capitol and stop the certification of President Biden’s election victory, and bringing paramilitary gear and weapons to support the attack.
The case marks the first time the Justice Department has filed charges of sedition in connection with the attack and comes days after Attorney General Merrick Garland promised that prosecutors would charge anyone responsible for the Capitol riot “at any level,” not just those who breached the building. Mr. Rhodes didn’t enter the building that day, but prosecutors said he directed his followers there, setting in motion the violence.
His lawyer, Jonathon Moseley, said he was on the phone with Mr. Rhodes Thursday afternoon when agents showed up at his client’s home in Granbury, Texas.
Prosecutors described the 10 other people indicted on seditious conspiracy and other charges as affiliated with the Oath Keepers. Counting Thursday’s indictment, more than three dozen members or affiliates of the Oath Keepers and another far-right group, the Proud Boys, have been arrested in connection with the attack on the Capitol. The Justice Department has charged more than 725 people in the attack to date.
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