There are National Guard, police and Army checkpoints every few blocks. SWAT teams, soldiers and military squads from as far away as Puerto Rico patrol the downtown streets, stopping anyone they see. The units often do not appear to know what the others are doing.
It is essentially martial law in the Big Easy, and being outside without a press pass can be dangerous, if not deadly.
But a private force - hired by Hearst Corp. (newspapers) - fights back.