The indictment states that the purpose of the conspiracy was to oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power by force. The goal of the conspiracy was to take control of the Capitol.
Prosecutors spent months building a case against Rhodes, describing his movements with great detail even as they delayed charging him with breaching the Capitol.
There has been no public indication that Rhodes entered the building. Rhodes was captured on video assembling his allies at a rally point outside the Capitol complex. Many of the people who can be seen talking with Rhodes were charged early last year as part of a conspiracy to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election.
The most significant step the Justice Department has taken to date is the decision to level seditious conspiracy charges. The top prosecutor handling the investigation said charges were being considered six days after the riot.
At a televised news conference, the acting U.S. Attorney said they were looking at sedition and conspiracy cases.
However, prosecutors held off for almost a year on following through. The highest-level charges facing defendants were obstruction and police assault until a new set of indictments were handed down.
The nature of the charges cast the Jan. 6 in a menacing light. There are very few seditious conspiracy charges. Nine militia members were charged in 2010 for planning to assault federal authorities.
Allies of former President Donald Trump inside and outside of Congress have pointed to the absence of sedition charges as evidence that the Capitol riot is overblown.
A quick reaction force, a stockpile of firearms and other weaponry, was one of the key elements of the plot, prosecutors say.
The FBI arrived at Rhodes' home and told him to come outside, according to an attorney who was on the phone with Rhodes. The FBI special agent in charge was on the phone with Rhodes.
They called him on the phone and asked him to come out and be arrested. The first thing to do is make sure there is no misunderstanding, no problem with that. They wanted to know who else was in the house.
He is trying to get a criminal defense attorney who can represent him at a bail hearing. Rhodes was subpoenaed by the House's select committee as part of its investigation into the attack. Rhodes is likely to plead the Fifth to the panel. A person for the select committee didn't respond to a request for comment.
Defense attorneys for Oath Keepers have complained for months that the anonymous references to Rhodes in succeeding indictments over the riot had complicated the case as trials loom. Plans for the trials could be ruined by late charges.
A prosecutor said that a grand jury was considering insurrection-related indictments.
The length of Rhodes' phone calls and private messages with other members of the conspiracy were detailed in detail by prosecutors. The charging documents referred to him only as Person One.
In support of Trump, Rhodes was a vocal critic. He warned of violence if Biden was elected. He encouraged Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act in order to prevent Congress from ruining President Joe Biden's chances of reelection.
The group stored weapons at a Comfort Inn in Virginia near the Capitol as part of their "quick reaction force," according to federal prosecutors.
Roberto Minuta and Joshua James were photographed with Roger Stone on January 5, 2021. Stone has not been accused of any wrongdoing and has not been aware of the Oath Keepers plan to go to the Capitol.
Stone had the right to decline to testify.
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