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Boston Mayor Marty Walsh speaks during a town hall event on June 1, 2017 in Boston. file Elise Amendola / AP file

"I didn't want them to get a permit, quite honestly," Walsh said, according to

The permit allows for 100 people to attend. Neither ANSWER Coalition Boston nor Black Lives Matter have acquired permits for the protests.

Walsh later told WGBH Greater Boston that hes confident there will be no violent repeats of Charlottesville, stating that he believed Saturdays group is not the same as those who appeared in Virginia.

This is the second rally planned by the Boston Free Speech Coalition. In May, the event was made up of self-described libertarians and Trump supporters as well as Oathkeepers and American Patriot Three Percenters the latter two groups attended the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville.

John Medlar, one of the organizers, has told multiple media organizations that the rally is not intended for white supremacists, neo-Nazis or members of the Ku Klux Klan and has made it clear that the Boston Free Speech Rally is not for those who attended the protests in Charlottesville. He also claimed the event was for liberals and posted an email he wrote on Facebook that seems to indicate he invited Black Lives Matters Boston chapter to send a speaker.

NBC News was not able to confirm the authenticity of the invitation.

We are seeing this kind of rebranding of what white supremacy is since Charlottesville, but we are not buying this at all, said ANSWER Coalition Boston organizer Kim Barzola.

A number of scheduled speakers who were supposed to attend right-wing firebrands Gavin McInnes and Tim Gionet (also known as Baked Alaska) decided to avoid the rally altogether in light of Charlottesville. Both have shared fears of being labeled white supremacists via social media and claimed to disavow violence.

Current speakers include congressional candidates Shiva Ayyadurai and Samson Racioppi as well as former InfoWars writer Joe Biggs. Kyle Chapman, a California activist who gained notoriety for bashing an Antifa protester with a stick and earned the nickname Based Stickman, will also speak.

Chapman founded the Fraternal Order of Alt Knights, which is to be the tactical defensive arm of McInnes mens-rights organization, the Proud Boys.

Nevertheless, Medlar maintains the rallys aims are nonviolent and will promote free speech for all except hate groups.

"We absolutely denounce the KKK, neo-Nazis, ID Evropa, Vanguard all these legit hate groups. We have nothing to do with them and you dont want them here, we dont want them here, Medlar said, according to

Originally posted here:
Thousands Expected to Attend Boston Protests of Right-Wing Rally - NBCNews.com