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Counterprotests planned for Boston free speech rally

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BOSTON (AP) -- Organizers of a counterprotest to what's being called a free speech rally in Boston say they expect as many as 20,000 to 30,000 people to join them.

Boston-area leaders of Black Lives Matter said Friday that they don't buy claims that the rally planned for Saturday is not about white supremacy.

The Boston Free Speech Coalition says its rally Saturday has nothing to do with white nationalism. It also says it's not affiliated with the organizers of a rally in Charlottesville last weekend that erupted into violence and left one person dead.

A coalition leader has said as many as 1,000 people could show up at its rally on Boston Common.

The counterprotesters plan a 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) march from Roxbury to the Common.

Another counterprotest group is planning a separate "Stand for Solidarity" rally near the Common.