BASTROP, Texas — The office of the Bastrop County Republican Party is in an old lumber mill on Main Street, with peeling brown paint and a sign out front that captures the party’s feelings about the Obama administration: “Wise up America!”

Inside, county chairman Albert Ellison pulled out a legal pad on which he had written page after page of reasons why many Texans distrust President Barack Obama, including the fact that, “in the minds of some, he was raised by communists and mentored by terrorists.”

So it should come as no surprise, Ellison said, that as the U.S. military prepares to launch one of the largest training exercises in history later this month, many Bastrop residents might suspect a secret Obama plot to spy on them, confiscate their guns and ultimately establish martial law in one of America’s proudly free conservative states.

They are not “nuts and wackos. They are concerned citizens and they are patriots,” Ellison said of his suspicious neighbors. “Obama has really painted a portrait in the minds of many conservatives that he is capable of this sort of thing.”

Across town at the Bastrop County Courthouse, such talk elicits a weary sigh from County Judge Paul Pape, the chief official in this county of 78,000 people. Pape said he has tried to explain to folks that the exercise, known as Jade Helm 15, is a routine training mission.

Pape chaired a meeting this spring and invited an Army Special Operations Command spokesman to answer questions about Jade Helm. The meeting drew more than 150 people with signs that read, “No Gestapo in Bastropo.” Some asked whether the Army was bringing in Islamic State fighters, if the U.N. would be involved, and whether the military was planning to relieve local gun owners of their firearms.

“I’m sensitive to the fact that some of our Bastrop residents are concerned, and I’m confident that they are very sincere about their concerns,” Pape said. “But how did we get to this point in our country?”

Here in the soft, green farmlands east of Austin, some say the answer is simple: “The truth is, this stems a fair amount from the fact that we have a black president,” said Terry Orr, who was Bastrop’s mayor from 2008 to 2014.

Orr said a significant number of people in town distrust Obama because they think he is primarily concerned with the welfare of blacks and “illegal aliens.”

“People think the government is just not on the side of the white guy,” Orr said.

Some point to Texas’ political climate, where they say the state’s Republican leaders have eagerly stoked distrust of Obama.

“They are trying to convince people the federal government is coming after them,” said State Sen. Kirk Watson, a Democrat who represents Bastrop County.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the Texas State Guard to monitor Jade Helm 15.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a Republican presidential hopeful, has said he understands “the reason for concern and uncertainty, because … the federal government has not demonstrated itself to be trustworthy in this administration.”

Jade Helm’s troubles started with a map, released by the military, which depicted the area of operations. It showed seven southwestern states colored red for “hostile” (including Texas) and blue for “permissive” (including California). The map sent the conspiracy-minded into overdrive.

At the public hearing this spring, military spokesman Lt. Col. Mark Lastoria explained that those designations are part of a fictional scenario: Jade Helm is intended to simulate U.S. Special Forces helping resistance fighters restore democracy in an imaginary country. He patiently answered questions for nearly three hours, explaining that while Jade Helm would involve 1,200 troops across seven states, no more than 60 would be in Bastrop County.

Carol Schumacher, a Bastrop artist whose property backs up onto Camp Swift, laughed when asked about conspiracy theorists. “I think those people are crazy,” she said. “I’m more worried about them taking over.”