Uneasy calm Guardsmen arrive in city amid surreal atmosphere

On a foggy, unseasonably cold morning in Los Angeles, the national guardsmen suddenly pressed into service by Donald Trump to quell what he called a "rebellion" against his government were nothing if not ready for their close-up.

- Andrew Gumbel

Outside a federal complex in downtown Los Angeles that includes a courthouse, a veterans' medical centre and a jail, two dozen guardsmen in camouflage uniforms were arrayed in front of their military vehicles with semi-automatic weapons slung over their shoulders for the benefit of television and news photographers clustered on the pavement.

They stood with the visors of their helmets up so the reporters could see their faces. Most wore shades, despite the gloomy weather, giving them the eerie appearance of extras from a Hollywood action movie more than shock troops for the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

After two days of unrest in response to heavy-handed raids by Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) in central Los Angeles and in the heavily Latino suburb of Paramount, the day started off in an atmosphere of uneasy, almost surreal calm.

The skyscrapers and government offices of downtown Los Angeles were ringed by vehicles from law enforcement agencies - city police and parking enforcement, county sheriffs, highway patrol and private security guards.