BOSTON -- As the Democratic National Convention kicks off in Boston, delegates arriving by the score from all over the nation are well aware that it is the first major political event since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, taking place under a heightened sense of threat and intense security.

As delegates made their way around the city, they acknowledged that security is top of mind.

---

News From The Convention:

---

Article: Kerry Challenges Bush On Iraq War
Video: Clark | Albright | Cleland | Kerry
Text: Clark | Cleland | Kerry
Slideshows: Thursday Speakers | Around FleetCenter | Youth Caucus | Celebrities | Day Four On The Floor
Blog: Richardson Reports: Edwards Silences Critics
Slideshows: Wednesday Speakers | Tuesday Speakers | Monday Speakers
Wednesday Video: Sharpton | Shalikashvili | E. Edwards | J. Edwards
Tuesday Video: Kennedy | Dean | Obama | Heinz Kerry
Monday Video: Gore | Carter | Rodham Clinton | Clinton
Interactive: Schedule, Maps, and More

---

"Yes, I'm concerned. Really concerned about it," said Washington D.C. delegate Bob King. "I mean, it's nighttime, I'm peekin' around. I can't see much and so, certainly we're all going to be paying attention."

The Boston they are seeing, some for the first time, is different from the one most residents know. Police are everywhere and members of the military are guarding subway stops, dressed in camouflage uniforms.

Work crews dropped heavy metal barriers around City Hall on Sunday as a helicopter made a security flight above.

The FleetCenter, site of the convention, resembles a fortress, surrounded by razor wire and metal barricades. Only those with security clearance are allowed inside. The Secret Service performed a sweep of the area Friday and Saturday.

Camouflaged military police are staking out elevated subway lines overlooking the FleetCenter and officers with bomb-sniffing dogs are roaming nearby streets.

War planes are policing the skies over the city, while the U.S. Coast Guard is scouring the waters of nearby Boston Harbor using infrared cameras and randomly searching vessels.

U.S. Capitol Police carrying automatic weapons are stationed outside a harborfront hotel.

Police were also gearing up for the thousands of protesters expected to take to the streets Sunday afternoon.

Some delegates were taking it all in stride.

"It was similar in Los Angeles in 2000 and the convention was still a great one. The delegates needed to do what they needed to do and, you know, the protesters, that's why this is America and people have their viewpoints," said Elbra Wedgeworth, a Colorado delegate.

Although the convention officially starts Monday, activists began gearing up early, taking to the streets to protest the fenced-in demonstration zone near the convention site, which they say violates their free-speech rights.

Groups began gathering on the Boston Common early Sunday for a noontime march past the Fleet Center, a right granted to them by a federal judge last week after they filed a lawsuit against having to protest in designated areas near the convention site.

The Answer Coalition was one of dozens of protest groups that gathered on the common. They came from all over the country representing different organizations. Some came to protest the war in Iraq. Others planned to march in an effort to raise delegates' and politicians' awareness about social agenda issues.

"Regardless of who gets into office, until the people of this country have our basic needs and rights met, then it really doesn't matter who gets into office because the truth is, we're still getting evicted, we're still losing jobs, we're still losing Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare ..." said Imani Henry, of the Answer Coalition.

Meanwhile, across the common at the Paulist Center, which houses Sen. John Kerry's church, a group of anti-abortion protesters gathered to picket and pray.

Kerry, the likely Democratic party nominee for president, is a Catholic who supports abortion rights. He's drawn fire from the Catholic Church and other anti-abortion groups for his stance on the issue.

"Some agree, some disagree, but we are here to peacefully demonstrate and protest and use our First Amendment right to get our message out that we think is critical for this day and age and in our culture," said Right To Life demonstrator Brandi Swindell.

Most of the protesters say their activities are non-partisan in that they plan to also picket and demonstrate at the Republican National Convention in New York city in August.