How many individuals have been federally charged with seditious conspiracy for January 6, 2021?
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Executive summary
The Justice Department charged and later secured convictions against leaders and members of two extremist groups — the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys — on seditious conspiracy in connection with Jan. 6, 2021. Available sources report that DOJ charged "18 people" associated with Jan. 6 with seditious conspiracy [1], and high-profile convictions include multiple Oath Keepers and Proud Boys leaders and members [2] [3].
1. What the government counted: the “18 people” figure and what it means
The clearest numerical summary in the provided material is a DOJ-related tally reported by The Conversation: “the U.S. Department of Justice charged 18 people associated with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol with [seditious conspiracy]” [1]. That phrasing indicates DOJ identified 18 distinct defendants against whom prosecutors filed seditious-conspiracy counts, rather than a count of convictions, guilty pleas, or sentences [1].
2. Convictions and guilty pleas: who was actually found guilty
The reporting shows that multiple defendants were convicted at trial or pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy. Notable outcomes include convictions of Oath Keepers leaders Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs, four additional Oath Keepers found guilty in a later trial, and guilty verdicts for leaders of the Proud Boys [4] [2] [3]. Some defendants also pleaded guilty earlier (for example, Joshua James pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy) [5]. Sources do not give a single consolidated number of convictions in the provided set; they list multiple trials and pleas across different dates [4] [2] [3] [5].
3. How prosecutors used the charge: rare, serious, and historically rooted
Reporting and explainers emphasize that seditious conspiracy is a rare, Civil War–era statute prosecutors have used sparingly; DOJ portrayed these Jan. 6 cases as among the most serious in its portfolio [6] [3]. The charge in these prosecutions alleges conspiracies to “oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power” and was applied to leaders and coordinating figures whose communications and actions, prosecutors argued, amounted to organized efforts to stop the certification [3] [2].
4. Different outcomes and political context: convictions, pleas, commutations and pardons
Sources show mixed legal fates: some defendants pleaded guilty and cooperated, others were convicted at trial, and later developments outside the courthouse affected sentences. One account notes that as of November 2025 a presidential action commuted or pardoned several seditious-conspiracy sentences [5] [7]. That illustrates the separation between charging decisions (who gets indicted) and ultimate accountability (conviction, sentence, clemency) [5] [7]. Available sources do not give full details of every post-conviction executive action in the provided set beyond summary references [5] [7].
5. Why counting “how many” is harder than it sounds
Numbers differ by which milestone you count: indictments filed, defendants charged with at least one seditious-conspiracy count, defendants who pleaded guilty, defendants convicted at trial, or those sentenced. The provided materials give a DOJ-related count of 18 charged with the offense [1] but report specific trials and plea deals across the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys that produced multiple convictions — without a single, up‑to‑date consolidated list among the supplied sources [3] [2] [4] [5].
6. Competing narratives and limitations in the record
Federal prosecutors and law-enforcement statements emphasize the rarity and gravity of seditious-conspiracy prosecutions and portray the Jan. 6 cases as historically significant [3] [4]. Some media explainers likewise stress the legal difficulty of the charge and the exceptional nature of multiple seditious-conspiracy indictments arising from a single event [6] [8]. The sources provided do not include an official, continuously updated DOJ roster of every person charged with seditious conspiracy; the 18-person figure comes from secondary reporting synthesizing DOJ actions [1]. Therefore, available sources do not mention a definitive, consolidated count beyond that number.
7. Bottom line for readers
Based on the supplied reporting, the best-supported answer is that DOJ charged 18 people in connection with Jan. 6 with seditious conspiracy [1]. Multiple high-profile convictions and guilty pleas followed — notably among Oath Keepers and Proud Boys leaders and members — but the supplied sources do not give a single authoritative, itemized list of all 18 names or a final tally of convictions derived from that initial charging count [2] [3] [4] [5].