On Saturday, thousands of people descended on the Boston Common, with the vast majority of these being counter-protesters who chanted slogans against the Free Speech rally and US President Donald Trump, Reuters reported.
"We knew we were going to have some people who were going to cause problems, and we had to make… 27 arrests so far today," Evans told a briefing aired by the CNN broadcaster, stressing that the arrests were made largely due to disorderly conduct.
Boston police took 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.