BOSTON —
Boston city leaders and protest organizers are making final preparations Friday for what could be a huge demonstration on Boston Common.
City leaders reiterated that a zero-tolerance policy on violence and weapons will be strictly enforced during Saturday’s events.
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“If anything gets out of hand, we will shut it down,” Mayor Marty Walsh said.
The city granted permission for an event that organizers are calling a free speech rally but that some people fear is actually a white nationalist rally similar to the one that erupted in violence and left a woman dead in Charlottesville last weekend.
Barriers will separate participants from a planned counterprotest that its organizers are calling a “racial justice solidarity march.”
The permit for Saturday’s event on Boston Common comes with severe restrictions, including a ban on backpacks, sticks and anything that could be used as a weapon.
Watch: Police commissioner on increased rally security
“We don’t want a repeat of what happened in Charlottesville,” Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said. “Boston is too united. We have a city that doesn’t tolerate hatred and bigotry, and we wanted to make it clear to both groups.”
Evans said the majority of people will be in Boston for the “right reasons,” but he thinks there could be “a couple of trouble makers here.”
Evans said more than 500 Boston police officers on bikes, foot and undercover will be at the rally, with more officers available if necessary. Gov. Charlie Baker said 200 state troopers would also be available. Evans said additional security cameras have also been set up.
Watch: Mayor reminds people ‘children will be watching’
“We are going to do everything we can to make (Saturday) about liberty and justice, and unity and peace,” Gov. Charlie Baker said.
“We don’t respond to hate with hate. We respond to hate with peace,” Walsh said.
Walsh urged people to stay away from the Common during Saturday’s demonstrations, and warned of potentially dangerous weather.
Tremont Street to Charles Street will be closed Saturday beginning at 10:30 a.m., and all MBTA stations with the exception of Bowdoin will be open.
The Boston Common parking garage, the Swan Boats and the Frog Pond will be closed.
Watch: Baker pledges support for safe demonstrations
The Mass Community Action Network, along with other groups like Black Lives Matter, are offering training sessions in light of the events in Virginia.
Trainers encouraged people to speak their minds, but, they want everyone to stay safe.
Boston-area leaders of Black Livers Matter said Friday that they don’t buy claims that the rally planned for Saturday that is not about white supremacy.
Watch: Black Lives Matter organizers talk about rally
“For many years, they have ignored the problem and ignoring the problem is not going to make it go away,” said Boston-area Black Lives Matter co-organizer Monica Cannon.
“If this was really about free speech, we would have been invited from day one to speak and have a platform,” said Boston-area Black Lives Matter co-organizer Angelina Camacho.
Black Lives Matter organizers said they expected as many at 20,000 to 30,000 people to participate in Saturday’s marches.
The permit granted Wednesday is for 100 people and a two-hour rally from noon until 2 p.m., with a two-hour setup and an hourlong breakdown time. The counter-protesters will march from the Reggie Lewis Center to Boston Common.
John Medlar of the Boston Free Speech Coalition thinks as many as 1,000 people could show up.
“There’s a lot of variables we simply can’t account for — will the extra controversy drive people away or make it even more popular?” he said.
The group said on Facebook that it is not affiliated with the Charlottesville rally organizers in any way.
“We are not associated with any alt-right or white supremacist groups we are strictly about free speech,” the group said.
A woman was killed Saturday in Charlottesville when a car plowed into counterprotesters at a Unite the Right rally attended by neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.