BOSTON (Sputnik) — According to the security guard, the organizers of the rally are not KKK or white supremacists.
"Some of the organizers have been threatened with their lives. They're young kids, not KKK, not white supremacists, they're young college kids," Kenny, a security guard, who refused to reveal his last name, said.
Kenny was wearing protective eye goggles, which he said he had brought as a precautionary measure against pepper spray.
Another organizer who holds the rally permit had not yet arrived.
All appeared increasingly nervous as the crowd of counter-demonstrators around them grew to more than 100 people.
"If they want to come and talk on our side they're very welcome," Kenny said of the counter-protesters, insisting that the Free Speech participants believe in everyone's right to air their opinions.
The "Free Speech" rally is expected to draw up to 1,000 people to Boston Common, while counter-rallies across the city could attract more than 20,000.
Police in Boston are taking extra precautions to avoid a repeat of Charlottesville, where clashes erupted between protesters and counter-demonstrators. The violence culminated in the Virginia town when a Nazi supporter slammed his car into a group of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and leaving 19 others injured.
