Political violence and the deep state

Last week, uniformed armed men appeared in the streets of Washington, DC, without name tags, unit insignia, or other identification marks. They refused to identify themselves and explain their chain of command. A week later, vigilante militias were patrolling the streets of Philadelphia and in north-west Indiana. The American public were puzzled: if they were not army soldiers, National Guard, or police officers, who were these men, and what were they doing in the streets of American cities?