Homeland Security agents, backed by police SWAT teams, armored vehicles and a Black Hawk helicopter staged a bizarre unannounced show of force in front of a school in a small Illinois town, scenes which will exacerbate concerns about the increasing militarization of U.S. law enforcement.

Residents of Livingston, IL., population 850, were shocked to see agents from Homeland Security, the US Customs and Border Patrol and local police agencies swarm a field belonging to a grade school yesterday, with one local telling news channel KTVI, "When all the armored trucks started showing up and everything it made me kind of nervous."

One child said he thought the spectacle was "pretty cool" and that agents invited the local children to check out the choppers up close, despite the presence of weapons inside the helicopters.