It's a weeknight in Washington, DC, and soldiers with assault rifles are pacing through the national parks while federal agents are spotted on a popular nightlife strip.
They are patrolling the capital under President Donald Trump's orders, but they are also being closely monitored themselves.
Local activists are texting on encrypted messaging apps and scouting streets to find law enforcement with the intention of documenting, recording and posting their activities online.
In two vehicles are Elli, Cap, Gizmo and Brit — aliases for this motley crew who make it well known that they do not want these federal agents here.
Elli has been out with their phone filming federal agents every night since Mr Trump announced his crime crackdown.
The 19-year-old's sleep schedule is all over the place as they also work in a nearby bar.
"I intend to keep doing this until these feds leave or I end up in handcuffs — whichever one comes first," they told the ABC.
"Am I afraid? Yes. But that doesn't mean that I'm intimidated into stopping, into being silent."
Community concerns about federal crackdown
Three weeks ago, the US President declared there was an "epidemic of crime" in Washington, and announced the federal government was seizing control of the city's police department.
Hundreds of officers and agents from over a dozen federal agencies were sent out across the city, as well as hundreds of troops from the National Guard.
At the time, Mr Trump called it a historic action to "rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse".
Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser initially pushed back on Mr Trump's claims, saying DC was "not experiencing a crime spike" and called his announcement "unsettling and unprecedented".
But the mayor has since spoken positively of the federal intervention, acknowledging there have been reductions in crime, including an "87 per cent reduction in carjackings".
"We greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance what MPD (Metropolitan Police Department) has been able to do in this city," she said.
Violent crime has dropped even further, Ms Bowser said, and some residents are happy with the results.
By the end of August, there had been 1,599 arrests made and 165 illegal guns seized in Washington, according to US Attorney-General Pam Bondi.
Many of these arrests included low-level offences such as possession of drugs, having an open container of alcohol, and traffic violations.
It was also unclear how many people arrested were later charged with a crime.
But not everyone has been happy with the crackdown.
Reverend George Gilbert Jr, who lives in a lower socio-economic neighbourhood in DC, said his community felt like it was being targeted.
"They're going into public housing units where people live and they are basically doing stop and frisk," he said.
"They're just fishing to see if they can find something or someone that they can harass and arrest.
"There are checkpoints across the city where cars are being stopped for no real reason. We are literally a city under siege."
And Elli said they had witnessed "egregious" violations of due process from authorities arresting or detaining individuals over the past few weeks.
The activist network patrolling the streets
On a night accompanied by the ABC, Elli and the crew stumbled across a large local police presence after reports of a fight having broken out between two men at a petrol station.
Dozens of officers were at the scene as locals honked, rode by and pulled out their phones to film.
The scene was tense. People were shouting at the police while Elli and Cap asked the men involved for their phone numbers, names and if there was anyone they wanted them to call.
"We want to make sure that even if a crime was committed — which we don't know in this case — that we're able to know where everybody is, where they're being booked and then if there's a family member that they need someone to call for them to meet them at the precinct," Elli said.
One police officer repeated to the growing crowd, "I don't mind you recording", but asked people to step back.
One man was arrested while the other man involved in the incident was released.
"Initially, our concern is brutality; we wanted to make sure that they were treating him with respect," Elli said.
"We're here to just make sure that everything is being done according to procedure, and so far, it seems like it has, and that could be because we are here."
Elli said law enforcement had a legitimate place within society, but they were concerned about the surge of federal agents and the disproportionate number of law enforcement officers in DC.
Each night they said they were also "backroom documenting", which included taking photos of licence plates, agents' faces, badges and behaviours.
"We're in the process of trying to build a system where we can sort of collate the different vehicles and agents that are prowling the city … so we can put out calls for folks to either document them when they see them in public or just stay away from them," Elli said.
"I have an obligation as a community member and also as a person of faith to witness and to bear witness to what's going on, if nothing else."
In particular, they were concerned for the wellbeing of immigrants who are being targeted, detained and deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
ICE agents targeting communal places, locals say
Agents from ICE have been seen throughout the city raiding buildings and detaining individuals.
The Department of Homeland Security's Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox they were targeting the "worst of the worst — including gang members, murderers, paedophiles, terrorists and rapists".
The DHS has released details surrounding some of those immigrants caught to support its case in a city where residents have come out in numbers to protest ICE's presence.
There have also been reports of agents targeting places of worship and schools to detain immigrants.
In several instances, the ABC has been told these individuals had done nothing wrong apart from entering the country illegally decades ago.
One pastor from a church in a community with a large Latino population said members of his congregation had gone missing and he had to cancel a Sunday service because "10 ICE vehicles were parked out back waiting" for it to start.
He did not want to be identified due to concerns that his church would be targeted further.
A worker at a nearby religious organisation told the ABC that two parents who were dropping their children off at the associated school were taken away by ICE agents waiting for them. Their kids were left at the school without their mum and dad.
"All the other students were crying, people are very scared right now," she said.
Religious leaders urge ICE to stay out of church
Nearly two dozen religious leaders across DC signed a letter urging federal immigration officials to stay off church property, as agents had been using parking lots as staging areas throughout the week.
As part of this surge, President Trump also said he was going to get rid of the "slums" of homeless people in the city.
He has reposted a video on social media of tents being dismantled and removed from sidewalks.
Some churches have seen a drop in people experiencing homelessness using their services and food programs.
Reverend Gilbert, who has lived in the capital his entire life, said what he was witnessing in his hometown went against the principles of his faith.
"What we are saying to the White House is that the acts that they are doing throughout Washington, DC, are not acts of love and have nothing to do with Christianity," he said.
"They call themselves Christian nationals, where the truth is they're putting their country before their God.
"There is nowhere in the Bible, in any translation, where you don't look after the poor, you don't look after the least, the lost and the left out."
DC council member wants more protests
While Mayor Bowser has been happy with the sharp drop in crime, she has not approved of other elements of the crackdown.
"We know having masked ICE agents in the community has not worked in National Guard from other states, has not been an efficient use of those resources," she said.
Overall, Ms Bowser has been praised by the president for her collaboration. He has lambasted other Democratic mayors who have threatened a more obstructive approach should he send the National Guard and other agencies into their cities.
Within the DC council, though, others wanted residents to keep fighting back.
There have been protests weekly across the city with thousands turning up and marching in opposition to the law enforcement "takeover".
Council member Zachary Parker held a town hall with his ward's residents about how to protest more effectively.
"We need more of it," he said.
"I'm trying to effectively channel that frustration in order to mobilise neighbours so we can push back effectively on what's happening in our city."
Some Republican states have sent their National Guard to DC to assist in the crackdown.
"I find it rich that red states have sent their National Guard … when some of those states have cities that have worse crime than the nation's capital," Mr Parker said.
"I think it's a fool's errand to frame this around crime. We will never win that debate because crime is a self-fulfilling prophecy — any crime is too much.
"As much as we debate and justify whether or not there is a crime issue in DC, it misses the broader point.
"This is about power and control and the dangerous tactics that this administration is employing to disrupt our local autonomy, and I would argue disrupt democracy, here in the country."
