BOSTON — Free speech advocates whose rally on Boston Common last summer drew boisterous counter-protesters plan to regroup there this weekend.

The conservative groups Resist Marxism and Boston Free Speech say they plan a midday Saturday event on the Common despite being denied a permit they had sought from the city.

Organizers planned the “Rally for the Republic” event after angry counter-protesters overwhelmed a similar rally in August.

Boston Police spokesman Lt. Mike McCarthy says authorities will be present but don’t expect any trouble.

Resist Marxism has denounced white supremacism repeatedly and publicly. But the August rally came shortly after deadly violence erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, and it drew thousands who said they feared white nationalists might show up anyway.

Some clashed with police, and more than 30 were arrested.