Samson Racioppi, a candidate for Massachusetts' 6th congressional district as a Libertarian, gets into a heated verbal exchange with members of a counter-protester group during the Rally to Denounce Political Violence on Saturday at the State House. Minutes earlier, Racioppi had implored the counter-protesters to join the nearby rally, but was chided for prevaricating on whether the death of Heather Heyer, the victim of a hit-and-run attack by a white supremacist in Charlottesville, Va., was an act of political hatred.
A demonstrator holds a sign and shouts on Saturday during a counterrally held in Capitol Park in Augusta.
A protester confronts Samson Racioppi, back to camera, of Salisbury, Mass. Racioppi was a speaker Saturday at the Rally to Denounce Political Violence, held at the State House in Augusta.
John Rasmussen, organizer of the Rally to Denounce Political Violence, holds a banner while listening to a speech on Saturday at the State House in Augusta. Rasmussen organized a poorly-attended Boston rally in May that was criticized for its associations with white supremacist movements. Rasmussen said he's been unfairly maligned.
Counter-protesters stand silently at the periphery of the Rally to Denounce Political Violence on Saturday at the State House in Augusta.
Protesters attend a rally Saturday in Capitol Park in Augusta as a counterdemonstration to a rally held at the State House to denounce political violence, according to organizers.
John Bell, center, of Augusta, speaks to protesters Saturday at the State House in Augusta. Bell was attending a rally that its organizers said was held to denounce political violence. Counterprotesters from a coalition of left-leaning organizations said they were suspicious of the intentions of the rally organizers.
An organizer of a counterrally identifying himself using the pseudomyn Ryan Brown, from central Maine, speaks to demonstrators attending a rally Saturday in Capitol Park in Augusta.
Demonstrators against ultra-conversative groups are reflected in Morgan Erkhart's sunglasses Saturday at a rally in Capitol Park in Augusta. Erkhart, from Bangor, joined about 75 other left-leaning activists during a counterrally opposed to alt-right groups in Maine.
Counter-protester Sam Bonfatti, a student at the University of Maine at Farmington, loses his temper at the Rally to Denounce Political Violence during an exchange with a rally-goer about transsexual persons being able to use bathrooms based on their self-identity rather than the gender of their birth.
Counter-protesters at the Rally to Denounce Political Violence at the State House on Saturday return toward their meeting spot in Capitol Park after brief confrontations with rally-goers. The groups exchanged heated words, but avoided violence.
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