Police were in place around Bel Air High and other schools in town well before their dismissal times Thursday. The officers, like everyone else in and around town, were wondering if some kind of protest or demonstration was imminent.
A Facebook post that surfaced Monday and got widely circulated on a variety of social media platforms said there would be a protest at Bel Air High School starting at 5 p.m.
When the Harford County Courthouse bell chimed 5 p.m., no protest had materialized there.
Instead, about a dozen people gathered in front of the courthouse, among them some local religions leaders who said a prayer.
Two women quietly held signs. A third walked away.
"A riot is the language of the unheard," a statement attributed to Rev. Martin Luther King, was written on one sign.
"I am embarrassed to live in a town that looks the other way – all lives matter," read the other. "I stand with Bmore."
Bel Air town officials and leaders of the town police department worked on a security plan throughout the day Tuesday and Wednesday, several of them said.
The original Facebook post read: "This post is not to worry anyone but as a Harford County resident I just want to make all aware that many of our youth here in harford county black, white, mix, and etc are planning a protest this Thursday at 5pm in Bel-Air by the high school. They are planning to walk down main street and etc. I have notified the authorities and I pray if they go forward that they are peaceful."
If police intelligence had identified the source of the post, however, officials weren't saying. Those who were interviewed said they really didn't know what to expect, but would be prepared to protect the public, as well as property in the downtown area.
"There is no credible threat anything is even going to happen," Town Administrator Jesse Bane said Wednesday evening.
Bane said he had just talked with Interim Police Chief Jack Meckley, "and the chief says they will be ready to go if anything materializes."
As a precaution, Harford County Public Schools canceled all after school and evening activities Thursday at the high school, Bel Air Middle and Homestead Wakefield Elementary, which are all on the same campus on the south side of town, and at Bel Air Elementary, about three-quarters of a mile north on the other end of Main Street.
Jillian Lader, manager of communications for Harford County Public Schools, said Wednesday there had been "no threat to any of the schools," but added that "in lieu of information on social media that states there may be a gathering or protest in the downtown Bel Air area tomorrow evening, we are being proactive and canceling after school and evening activities at Bel Air Elementary, Bel Air Middle, Bel Air High and Homestead/Wakefield Elementary Schools in order to get students home safe and as quickly as possible."
"During the course of today's events, many rumors and misinformation involving rallies in Bel Air, and other areas around the county have been circulated online," the Harford County Sheriff's Office posted on its Facebook page Wednesday afternoon. "Currently, information developed by way of investigation and interviews leads us to believe that the information concerning these events is NOT CREDIBLE. We will remain vigilant and take all appropriate precautions, in the event something occurs. Please continue to monitor the HCSO social media feeds as your verified source of information."
Main Street was pretty quiet Wednesday evening. The restaurants and stores were open like normal and people were out for strolls on a beautiful night.
"Oh yes, it's safe," Roe Jackielyn Taylor, of Fallston, said Wednesday evening.
She and her husband were walking north on Main Street toward the Main Street Tower restaurant as the sun set on a nice, spring evening. Music was coming out of the Tower.
"I think the looting in Baltimore City, I think it's the kids that probably don't know better, in my opinion," she said. "They become emotional, rather than rational because of their experiences."
Taylor is also an on-call forensic nurse examiner with Mercy Hospital in the city, but she said she was not called in when riots broke out earlier this week following protests over the police custody related death of Freddie Gray.
In addition to the Sheriff's Office, the town enlisted the support of the Harford local municipal police departments and the Maryland State Police, all which sent officers to Bel Air Thursday afternoon.
A Bel Air Police Department Officer, a Maryland State Police trooper, a Harford County Sheriff's Office deputy and Havre de Grace Police Department officer remained around the entrance to the school two and a half hours following the school's 2 p.m. dismissal Thursday.
The last of the schools to dismiss was Bel Air Elementary at 4 p.m., and there did not to be any problems, as a town police car sat in a business parking lot adjoining the school property.
Earlier, two teenage girls walking along Route 924, about a block from the high school, said they believed there would be a protest at 5 p.m.
When the two were asked if they planned to take part, one of them replied, "We're not that stupid."
More police vehicles and officers were observed around Looney's Pub and a 7-Eleven store in a shopping center near the high school campus,
One boy who was near the school said there was talk of the police being around Harford Mall on the west side of town.
Around 3:30 p.m., Michael Krantz, director of administration for the Town of Bel Air, said interim Chief of Police Jack Meckley made arrangements for support from the Sheriff's Office, where Meckley serves as a major, the Aberdeen and Havre de Grace municipal departments, State Police and the Cecil County Sheriff's Office.
"These officers have all deployed in areas around town to be as low profile as possible," Krantz said. "If nothing else, this is a good exercise. We aren't anticipating any issues, but you always worry something could happen and you want to be prepared."
Krantz said no person or organization had approached the town about holding a demonstration or march.
"That's thing I am most disappointed about because those permits are handled by my office," he said. "If someone had come to us, we would have been happy to work with them and to arrange an escort along an approved route."
Shortly before 4 p.m., Robert Benedetto, chief of security for Harford County Public Schools, said he expected people will gather at the high school, since it has the biggest lot, but Benedetto also admitted they hadn't nailed down exactly where people might be or who they are.