Before the Rally for Justice, held at Whitehall’s Schadt Avenue Park Aug. 31, there loomed the threat of a counterprotest that was simultaneously drumming up interest online.

The day before the rally, a Whitehall gun shop and firing range, Relic Hunter Firing Line, shared a link detailing the rally on its Facebook page with a caption reading, “BLM AND ANTIFA COMING TO WHITEHALL HIGH SCHOOL TOMORROW! 5:30 LOL- GET THE WORD OUT.”

The rally, which was organized by a local interfaith group called POWER Lehigh Valley, had no affiliation with or presence of ANTIFA.

The post was removed some time the following day, so the comments made on it can no longer be accessed, but the responses to the post led some to believe there would be a counterprotest. Concerns of this prompted Whitehall-Coplay School District to decide not to allow the rally to be held at Whitehall High School, which was the original event site, forcing organizers to move the event to Schadt Avenue Park.

What materialized was a small group of people not affiliated with the rally, who briefly gathered in the parking lot of the park during the event. There was no interaction between the two groups.

The day of the rally, Relic Hunter posted a statement on social media that it was “not organized at [the] protest and are not associated with anyone with a counter protest.”

During the rally, Attorney Matthew Mobilio, who is representing WHS students who were allegedly injured by police during a basketball game in January, claimed the gun shop became aware of the rally by way of Whitehall Police Department.

Mobilio alleged the police department uses Relic Hunter’s shooting range for firing practice and implied coordination between the police and “counterprotesters.”

“We were driven away by the school district because of a counterprotest that was in my opinion - though I can’t say this for sure - instigated or coordinated by the Whitehall Police Department themselves,” Mobilio told those gathered at the rally.

When asked to comment on Mobilio’s allegations, Whitehall Mayor Michael Harakal Jr. said not only does the police department not use Relic Hunter’s range, he stated there is “no relationship between any specific local organization and the police department.”

The Whitehall police, he said, uses a firing range on West Columbia Street, which it shares with officers from other nearby departments.

The rally was prompted by an incident on the WCSD campus earlier this year. Two WHS boys basketball games were canceled Jan. 28 after four students, all juveniles, reportedly became disruptive and police were called, according to a statement released at that time by the WCSD.

According to a statement from WCSD Superintendent Dr. Lorie Hackett, the athletic director, in maintaining safety, acted appropriately in asking students to leave an unsupervised area in the high school during the basketball game.

“After several unsuccessful attempts to get the students to leave the unsupervised area and return to the gym, they were then asked to leave the event,” Hackett said.

Whitehall Township police officers were then asked to assist. The juveniles refused numerous requests by officers to leave, police said. When officers attempted to take the juveniles into custody, they were surrounded by other juveniles who “physically attempted to block the officers from a lawful arrest,” according to Whitehall Police Lt. Gregory Bealer.

Officers from multiple agencies responded to assist in controlling the area. Bealer said the four juveniles were then taken into custody.

The juveniles were charged in juvenile court with numerous offenses, including inciting a riot, which is a felony. According to reports, they were also charged with defiant trespass, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstruction of the administration of the law, all misdemeanors.

The felony charge was later dropped.

Lawsuits have since reportedly been filed against Whitehall Township, Whitehall Township Mayor Michael Harakal Jr., Whitehall Township Police Department, Whitehall-Coplay School District, Hackett and athletic director Bob Hartman. According to Mobilio, the lawsuits allege the school and its employees created a danger to the public at large by enacting policies that place armed police at school events and instructing them to use force in response to minor disturbances.