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(CNN) --
The Justice Department has charged 11 people with seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on Capitol Hill, including Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes.
The new indictment, which was handed down by a grand jury Wednesday and unsealed Thursday, alleges that Rhodes and his accomplices participated in a conspiracy to "oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power by force, preventing, hindering, or delaying by forces the execution of the laws that govern the transfer of power".
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The most recent court documents revealed that Thomas Caldwell, also of Oath Keepers and who was arrested in January, claimed to have made a reconnaissance trip to Washington City before January 6.
The indictment also reveals previously unknown communications that Rhodes allegedly sent.
Messages that, according to prosecutors, encouraged the use of force to oppose the legal transfer of power.
"We're not going to get through this without a civil war. It's too late for that. Prepare your mind, body and spirit," Rhodes allegedly said in a Nov. 5, 2020 Signal message. In December, Rhodes, according to the indictment, he wrote of electoral college certification that "there is no standard political or legal way out of this".
Previously, prosecutors mentioned that Rhodes used Signal during the attack to communicate with other members of the Oath Keepers who were on Capitol Hill.
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"All I see Trump doing is complaining. I don't see them having any intention of doing anything," Rhodes allegedly wrote.
"So the Patriots are taking matters into their own hands. They've had enough," he reportedly wrote in Signal at 1:38 pm that day, shortly after the siege began.
Additionally, the indictment says Oath Keepers members from three different states, including newly charged Edward Vallejo, hid weapons in a Virginia hotel as part of a quick reaction force.
A change in research
The charges represent a drastic change in the Justice Department's investigation into Jan. 6. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a speech last week during the Capitol attack commemoration that the department was "committed to holding all perpetrators of January 6, at any level, whether they were present that day or were criminally responsible for the attack on our democracy.
Until now, the Justice Department has been careful not to promote the idea of sedition.
Instead, he charged suspects affiliated with right-wing groups with conspiring to obstruct congressional proceedings on Jan. 6.
The seditious conspiracy charge carries the same possible consequence as an obstruction charge.
However, it is rarely used, it is politically charged, and it has been difficult for the Justice Department to use it successfully against defendants in the past.
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Previously, some Biden administration officials felt that using the sedition charge could politicize the Justice Department's prosecution of rioters on Capitol Hill.
And the agency backed down after the former lead prosecutor in the investigation, Michael Sherwin, said on CBS's "60 Minutes" that he believed there might be a seditious conspiracy charge.
Rhodes has also been under the scrutiny of the House investigation into Jan. 6.
The commission issued subpoenas in November for him and his organization to produce a statement and documents related to the events of that day.
CNN reported last July that Rhodes gave a voluntary interview to the FBI and that investigators seized his cellphone.
He has denied any accusation.
According to Justice Department court documents in other cases, Rhodes said in a November 2020 online meeting: "We are going to stand up for the president, the duly elected president. And we ask him to do what must be done to save our country. Because if you don't, guys, you're going to be in a bloody, bloody civil war and a bloody... you can call it an insurrection, or you can call it a war or a fight."
Rhodes' attorney, Jonathan Moseley, confirmed the arrest.
CNN's Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.
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