Thousands gather for free speech rally in Boston

BOSTON - Conservative activists and leftist counterprotesters gathered in Boston Saturday for the "Free Speech Rally," which drew thousands a week after a demonstration in Virginia turned deadly.

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Dozens of rallygoers gathered on Boston Common, but then left less than an hour after the event was getting underway. Thousands of counterprotesters had also gathered.

TV cameras show police vans escorting participants away, and angry counterprotesters scuffled with armed officers trying to maintain order.

Congressional candidate Samson Racioppi, who was among several slated to speak, tells WCVB-TV that he didn't realize "how unplanned of an event it was going to be."

Rallygoers had been met by counterprotesters who marched from to the Common. There have been some confrontations.

"Free Speech Rally" organizers have publicly distanced themselves from the white supremacists in Charlottesville on Aug. 12.

Police Commissioner William Evans said Friday that 500 officers -- some in uniform, others undercover -- would be deployed to keep the two groups apart on Saturday. Boston's Democratic mayor, Marty Walsh, and Massachusetts' Republican governor, Charlie Baker, both warned that extremist unrest wouldn't be tolerated in this city famed as the cradle of American liberty.

Organizers of the midday event, billed as a "Free Speech Rally," have publicly distanced themselves from the neo-Nazis, white supremacists and others who fomented violence in Charlottesville on Aug. 12. A woman was killed at that Unite the Right rally, and scores of others were injured, when a car plowed into counterdemonstrators.

But opponents feared that white nationalists might show up in Boston anyway, raising the specter of ugly confrontations in the first potentially large and racially charged gathering in a major U.S. city since Charlottesville.

Events are planned around the country, in cities including Atlanta, Dallas, and New Orleans.

Walsh greeted counterprotesters Saturday morning outside Reggie Lewis Center in the city's Roxbury neighborhood. Counterprotesters from Black Lives Matter and other groups denouncing racism and anti-Semitism are planning to march from there to the Common, and another group plans to rally on the steps of the Statehouse overlooking the sprawling park.

The permit issued for the rally on Boston Common came with severe restrictions, including a ban on backpacks, sticks, and anything that could be used as a weapon. The permit is for 100 people, though an organizer has said he expected up to 1,000 people to attend.

The Boston Free Speech Coalition, which organized the event, said it has nothing to do with white nationalism or racism and its group is not affiliated with the Charlottesville rally organizers in any way.

"We are strictly about free speech," the group said on its Facebook page. "... we will not be offering our platform to racism or bigotry. We denounce the politics of supremacy and violence."

But the mayor pointed out that some of those invited to speak "spew hate." Kyle Chapman, who described himself on Facebook as a "proud American nationalist," said he will attend.

Black Lives Matter said Friday that members from around the U.S. planned to march Saturday in Boston.

Walsh said the city would do whatever is necessary to head off violence initiated by either side. "If anyone gets out of control -- at all -- it will be shut down," he said.

"We will not tolerate any misbehavior, violence or vandalism whatsoever," said Evans, Boston's top cop.

Dating to 1634, Boston Common is the nation's oldest city park. The leafy downtown park is popular with locals and tourists and has been the scene of numerous rallies and protests for centuries.