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The rally on Saturday on the Seattle City Hall plaza, and similar gatherings in Boston, Austin, Spokane and elsewhere, were billed as pro-gun, pro-free speech events.

But they basically ended up being loud shouting matches with counter-protesters while squads of police officers worked overtime to keep the two sides apart.

The rally organizers largely openly support President Trump and his hard-line anti-immigration policies, while counter-protesters from an assortment of groups expressed anti-Trump sentiment, even calling for his impeachment.

鈥淭his nightmare must end: Trump/Pence Must Go!鈥� one large sign at the Seattle rally said.

All the rallies were largely peaceful, but likely will affect city budgets for police overtime.

The Seattle rally, organized by Washington State III% leader Matt Marshall, looked like a downsized rerun of a far-right gathering held two weeks earlier in Portland, just across the Columbia River from Washington state.

But there was a significant difference: Firearms, knives and even flagpoles were prohibited at the Portland rally, while in Seattle they were plentiful.听听

In Seattle, militia group members were armed with handguns and assault-style semi-automatic rifles 鈥� standing alongside riot-equipped Seattle police officers.

Across the street, some counter-protesters, some wearing black masks, also were armed with firearms.

Washington state legally allows everyone except felons to openly carry firearms.

The Seattle rally initially was organized to oppose a Washington state gun-control initiative, but that issue became moot when a state judge earlier in the week declared the proposed legislation invalid.

The Seattle crowd cheered that announcement, with some fist-bumps into the air and flag-waving under sunny and warm skies.

The City Hall plaza on Seattle鈥檚 busy Fourth Avenue was lined with portable, metal crowd-control fences and squads of billy club-armed police officers, watching both sides, augmented by roving cops on bikes.

The counter-protesters included members of Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity, Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party, the Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club and self-described anarchists and anti-fascists.

鈥淚f the far-right is going to show up with weapons, we show up with weapons,鈥� said a man identifying himself as Duke Aaron, who handed out John Brown Gun Club flyers.

鈥淚t gives people on the left freedom to speak their minds without intimidation,鈥� said Aaron, who was armed himself with an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle and a 9 mm Glock handgun.

At the Patriot Prayer/Proud Boys rally, organizers said 鈥渟ecurity protection鈥� was being provided by armed members of the militia-style Washington III% group, headed by Matt Marshall. The pairing seemed to show evidence of strong, increasing ties between Patriot Prayer, its Proud Boys associates and the militia group.

Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the one of the nation鈥檚 largest anti-government groups, the Oath Keepers, was billed as the featured speaker for the Seattle rally, but he cancelled at the last minute, claiming he was ill.

Several of his Oath Keeper supporters were brought to the downtown rally site in a 2 1/2-ton former U.S. Army open-air transport truck, spewing its diesel smoke into the sky as the 鈥淟iberty or Death鈥� demonstrators chanted 鈥淯SA! USA!鈥�

The counter-demonstrators used bullhorns to play piercing siren noise, augmenting that with a trombone, cymbals, cowbells and chants of 鈥淣azis Go Home.鈥澨�

One counter-protester held a homemade sign that read: 鈥淩emember Heather Heyer,鈥� who was killed by an extremist at last summer鈥檚 violent Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Across the state of Washington at another rally on Saturday, ultra-conservative state representative Matt Shea told a gun-rights gathering at a city park that journalists 鈥� including those at the event 鈥� are 鈥渄irty, godless, hateful people,鈥� reported. 听

Those attending the Spokane rally included Spokane City Councilman Mike Fagan, Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell and an aide to Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the fourth-ranking Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, the newspaper reported.

Earlier in the day, at Boston鈥檚 City Hall, only about 30 鈥渞ight-wing activists鈥� showed up for a 鈥渇ree speech rally鈥� on Saturday, facing an estimated 300 counter-demonstrators, the reported.

In Austin, Texas, a 3 1/2-hour free speech rally at the state鈥檚 capitol also saw 鈥渋nsults and threats鈥� hurled between opposing sides, leading police to detain several people, the Austin reported. 听

It appears the Seattle rally drew the biggest crowds on both sides.

With Rhodes and his Oath Keepers bandwagon a no-show in Seattle, one-time aspiring U.S. Senate candidate Joey Gibson became the featured speaker, telling the crowd Saturday that such 鈥渞allies are the gateway drug into politics.鈥�

He encouraged those listening to attempt to weave their Libertarian, ultra-conservative, constitutionalist and Christian views into mainstream politics by running for public office. Two other speakers 鈥� Jered Gavin Bonneau and Joseph Brumbles 鈥� are Republican candidates for the U.S. House representing Washington. 听听

In his speech, Bonneau told the audience they needed to 鈥渢ake back control and crush the opposition.鈥� 鈥淭hey want to fight?鈥� he continued, 鈥淲ell let鈥檚 fight! But let us make sure that when we fight, we bring down hell upon them and wipe them from existence.鈥�

Gibson was more measured and told the crowd they should 鈥渇ight fascism with solidarity.鈥澨� Then, with a police escort, he led 150-200 of those gathered on a short march around the city hall building before returning to the plaza.

Squads of Seattle police on bicycles provided a moving screen of protection, and those teams later used their nose-to-nose bikes to establish temporary barricades to keep the two sides apart.

There were three misdemeanor arrests, according to the Seattle Police Department, whose officers were augmented by others from the nearby communities of Bellevue and Redmond, Washington.

In a follow-up Facebook video post, Gibson, who lives in Vancouver, Washington, near Portland, claimed that many 鈥渇irst-time鈥� rally-goers showed up for the Seattle City Hall event.

At one point, a man wearing a pro-Trump shirt snapped photos of his two young sons on the plaza.

鈥淚t鈥檚 so much fun, you build family,鈥� said Gibson, calling himself a 鈥渓ibertarian and conservative constitutionalist.鈥澨�

鈥淭he key is to get antifa out of the way 鈥� and get people to understand that we鈥檙e not enemies,鈥� Gibson said.

鈥淩eally, at the end of the day, the enemy is at the top. Okay? It鈥檚 the elitists, it鈥檚 the government. The true fascists are the people who are in power,鈥� said Gibson, offering up a seeming contradiction to his followers who largely idolize Trump.

While Gibson has been the moving force behind several rallies in the Pacific Northwest 鈥� some of them violent 鈥� they haven鈥檛 provided the hype he needed to make the cut for the U.S. Senate race in Washington State.听

He got only 2.3 percent of the vote, slightly more than 24,000 votes, in the state鈥檚 primary election earlier this month.

But that limp showing doesn鈥檛 appear to have dampened Gibson鈥檚 desire for attention in far-right circles, and he now may be hoping for a larger presence on the national stage.

He鈥檚 scheduled to be a 鈥渇eatured speaker鈥� on September 29 at an 鈥渙pen carry鈥� pro-gun rally at Kent State University in Ohio, event organizer Kaitlin Bennett says in a new Facebook posting. The rally鈥檚 backers include 鈥淟iberty Hangout, Infowars and Triggered Millennials.鈥�

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