Steven Monticelli

And I'm Stephen Monticelli, an investigative reporter and columnist in Texas who covers political extremism and beyond.

And I'm Stephen Monticelli, an investigative reporter and columnist in Texas who covers political extremism and beyond.

And I'm Stephen Monticelli, an investigative reporter and columnist in Texas who covers political extremism and beyond.

The conspiracy theory Jones described on his InfoWars show spun in even wilder directions. The Army troops participating in the Jade Helm military exercise, panicked right-wingers said, would turn on the local population. Guns would be seized from private citizens and local Walmarts would be converted into vast holding cells.

The conspiracy theory Jones described on his InfoWars show spun in even wilder directions. The Army troops participating in the Jade Helm military exercise, panicked right-wingers said, would turn on the local population. Guns would be seized from private citizens and local Walmarts would be converted into vast holding cells.

The conspiracy theory Jones described on his InfoWars show spun in even wilder directions. The Army troops participating in the Jade Helm military exercise, panicked right-wingers said, would turn on the local population. Guns would be seized from private citizens and local Walmarts would be converted into vast holding cells.

or those opposing Obama's plan to seize dictatorial power would be imprisoned, according to these sorts of theories. These accusations went viral, and a military spokesman got waylaid by angry questions at a Bastrop County Commissioner's Court meeting held near the Central Texas staging area for Jade Helm.

or those opposing Obama's plan to seize dictatorial power would be imprisoned, according to these sorts of theories. These accusations went viral, and a military spokesman got waylaid by angry questions at a Bastrop County Commissioner's Court meeting held near the Central Texas staging area for Jade Helm.

or those opposing Obama's plan to seize dictatorial power would be imprisoned, according to these sorts of theories. These accusations went viral, and a military spokesman got waylaid by angry questions at a Bastrop County Commissioner's Court meeting held near the Central Texas staging area for Jade Helm.

Armed men in trucks patrolled in Bastrop County and surrounding communities and a private group called Counter Jade Helm spied on the movement of troops and military vehicles while they quizzed residents for any intelligence they may have gathered on the impending alleged coup d'etat.

Armed men in trucks patrolled in Bastrop County and surrounding communities and a private group called Counter Jade Helm spied on the movement of troops and military vehicles while they quizzed residents for any intelligence they may have gathered on the impending alleged coup d'etat.

Armed men in trucks patrolled in Bastrop County and surrounding communities and a private group called Counter Jade Helm spied on the movement of troops and military vehicles while they quizzed residents for any intelligence they may have gathered on the impending alleged coup d'etat.

After Texas violently separated from Mexico in 1836, white Texans spent the next decade fearing their southern neighbor, a nation that saw the Texas Revolution as illegitimate and wanted to regain control of the breakaway province.

After Texas violently separated from Mexico in 1836, white Texans spent the next decade fearing their southern neighbor, a nation that saw the Texas Revolution as illegitimate and wanted to regain control of the breakaway province.

After Texas violently separated from Mexico in 1836, white Texans spent the next decade fearing their southern neighbor, a nation that saw the Texas Revolution as illegitimate and wanted to regain control of the breakaway province.

Meanwhile, those same white Texans viewed the African Americans they enslaved with suspicion bordering on dread, knowing that their black captives desperately wanted freedom and might use violence to liberate themselves. This created an atmosphere of uncertainty and distrust that fed conspiracy theories of all sorts.

Meanwhile, those same white Texans viewed the African Americans they enslaved with suspicion bordering on dread, knowing that their black captives desperately wanted freedom and might use violence to liberate themselves. This created an atmosphere of uncertainty and distrust that fed conspiracy theories of all sorts.

Meanwhile, those same white Texans viewed the African Americans they enslaved with suspicion bordering on dread, knowing that their black captives desperately wanted freedom and might use violence to liberate themselves. This created an atmosphere of uncertainty and distrust that fed conspiracy theories of all sorts.

After their rebellion against Mexico, Texans wanted to become part of the United States, but they were forced to spend almost a full decade as an independent republic because of well-founded suspicions held by American abolitionists that the Texas Revolution was a part of a plot to add a slave state to the Union.

After their rebellion against Mexico, Texans wanted to become part of the United States, but they were forced to spend almost a full decade as an independent republic because of well-founded suspicions held by American abolitionists that the Texas Revolution was a part of a plot to add a slave state to the Union.