BOSTON -- Delegates will soon start arriving for next week's Democratic Convention and security is beginning to tighten, with transportation restrictions going into effect Friday.
The security perimeter around the FleetCenter is now in place and North Station will be closing at 8 p.m. Friday night, with the city towing vehicles parked in no stopping zones. Barriers have also been set up to keep streets around the convention center closed.
All the precautions have been employed to deter attacks and disruptions during the convention. There will be more than 15,000 members of the news media covering the event, and the FBI said it has received information that domestic terror groups may target media vehicles in an attempt to disrupt the convention. Security plans are in place for water, ground and air.
"The only folks you're going to see in the skies over the city of Boston are law enforcement, emergency medical and military," said Lt. Michael Barry of the Massachusetts State Police.
At MBTA stations around Boston, random searches of passengers' bags began Thursday. A chemical detection system can detect explosives and other weapons. Riders who don't submit to a search will be taken off trains. In the case of a chemical attack, tents with showers will be set up, and in the case of protests that get out of control, demonstrators will face pepper ball guns.
"The protesters know. When these start going out, they know. They're going to run. They're going to go the other way because they don't want any part of it," said Sgt. Pardo Montagano.
Federal Douglas Woodlock judge ruled Thursday that protesters must remain in a fenced-off "free speech" area designated for demonstrations, despite calling it "an affront to free expression."
Protest groups, such as the Black Tea Society, filed a lawsuit against having to stay in the area, which is topped with overhead netting and barbed wire and is more than a block from the FleetCenter. They said it infringes on their right to free speech. Woodlock rejected the lawsuits saying it was "irretrievably sad," that such precautions were necessary, but citing Secret Service information about possible violent protest tactics and the threat of terrorism as his reason for keeping the demonstrators contained.
While the protesters lost that court battle, they did win the right to stage a parade in front of the Fleet Center on Sunday, the day before the convention begins.
In the meantime, Boston police who had been picketing over a contract pay dispute, were awarded a 14.5 percent pay raise over the next four years by an independent arbitrator. The police union wanted a 17 percent pay hike and said it will continue with plans to protest at delegate parties over the weekend.
Delegates to the Democratic convention will have to decide whether they will cross police picket lines. The Democratic party has traditionally been pro-labor and delegate officials from at least eight states, including North Dakota, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Vermont, Texas, Kentucky and Nebraska said they will not cross the lines. Several other delegation parties were canceled altogether because of the picketing threats.
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Democratic Convention Restrictions Starting
