U.S. charges far-right militia leader with seditious conspiracy in Capitol riot

The founder of the far-right militia group Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, and 10 other people have been criminally charged with seditious conspiracy for their role in the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

It marked the first time prosecutors brought that charge against defendants in the attack. The crime is defined as attempting "to overthrow, put down or to destroy by force the government of the United States."

Supporters of former president Donald Trump that day stormed the Capitol in a failed bid to stop Congress from certifying his election loss to U.S. President Joe Biden. The attack occurred shortly after Trump in a speech repeated his false claims that his loss was the result of widespread voting fraud and urged his supporters to go to the Capitol and "fight like hell" to stop the election from being stolen.

The Oath Keepers are a loosely organized group of activists who believe that the federal government is encroaching on their rights, and focus on recruiting current and former police, emergency services and military members.

Prosecutors said that beginning in late December 2020, Rhodes used private encrypted communications to plan to travel to Washington on Jan. 6. He and others planned to bring weapons to the area to help support the operation, they said.