Bucks County Community College caused a stir this week when it abruptly pulled the plug on a planned screening of the upcoming PBS docuseries "Bucks County, USA," citing last-minute safety concerns about hosting the event at its campus in Newtown Township.

The college's fears forced event organizers to relocate the screening to a theater in Montgomery County, and the ensuing social media uproar inadvertently has showcased the political fervor explored in the five-part series.

Tuesday night's sold-out screening was originally scheduled to be held at BCCC's Zlock Performing Arts Center with a Q&A session led by PBS NewsHour's Judy Woodruff. The event, organized in partnership with WHYY, was billed as a preview of the series before PBS premieres the first two episodes nationally on Sept. 20.

"The September 15 prescreening of 'Bucks County, USA' was canceled after we received information that raised concerns about our ability to provide a safe environment for campus visitors," BCCC said in a statement released Monday. "With the docuseries premiering locally on WHYY in less than one week and erring on the side of caution, the decision was made to cancel the event."

Directed by award-winning filmmakers Robert May and Barry Levinson, the new docuseries examines community tensions in Bucks County during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The story is partly told through the eyes of two 14-year-old girls, Evi and Vanessa, who attended middle school in the Central Bucks School District at the time. Their friendship winds up in the crosshairs of their parents' political differences over lockdowns, school curricula and a range of other issues that roiled school board meetings locally and across the country.

May addressed BCCC's sudden cancelation Tuesday afternoon in a statement on a Facebook page for the docuseries.

"We are beyond surprised and disappointed," May said. "After several months of planning the event with them, the powers that be at the college ignored our plea to speak with whoever made this decision, which feels most unusual."

Organizers searched for an alternate location to hold the screening, which had been expected to fill a theater and require a separate viewing room to accommodate the audience at BCCC. WHYY and SenArt Films, May's production company, could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday about the last-second change of plans.

The event ultimately was moved to the century-old Hiway Theater in Jenkintown, one attendee told PhillyVoice on Wednesday morning.

"It was a beautiful event," said Jeff Benedetto, whose daughter appears in the docuseries. "It was so well done, and it was really great to be a part of it. If it hadn't happened, that would have really been unfortunate. For about 24 hours, people were very upset at the fact this wasn't going to happen."

Benedetto, a former township supervisor in Lower Makefield, said the docuseries encapsulates the distrust that has shaped politics in Bucks County for years. Benedetto is a former Democrat who ran as a Republican when he was elected in 2011. He served for five years and said that while much of the county remains as contentious as ever, he believes the making of the docuseries improved life in the Central Bucks School District.

"I don't see how it could have gotten worse," Benedetto said. "There's still probably a lot of wounds that need to be healed, but it seems to do better. Last night was an example. A lot of people there were from Central Bucks. They came together, sat in a room together, sat on stage together. I think it was a nice reminder of like, 'Hey, we're all in this together."

Despite the safety concerns raised by BCCC, Benedetto said the environment at the Hiway Theater was peaceful. He observed only one police officer who was at the event to ensure the night went smoothly. Benedetto said the theater was packed with people and the event ran about four hours.

"Not even remotely a concern about safety whatsoever," Benedetto said.

A spokesperson for the Newtown Township Police Department said Wednesday authorities did not receive any report from BCCC of a specific threat or other information compromising the safety of the college's event. The Bucks County District Attorney's office could not be reached for comment on whether an investigation was sparked by information the college received.

BCCC President Patrick M. Jones told the Bucks County Herald it was his decision to cancel the screening. The college's statement on Monday said BCCC was "deeply disappointed" to cancel an event that was "about education, civic life, and community engagement," but claimed safety was the driving force for the change in plans.

"The safety of our visitors and campus community ... is paramount," the statement said.

In interviews leading up to the release of the docuseries, May and Levinson have said the project's intent is to "look beyond politics to offer an impartial, human perspective" on the ideological divides in Bucks County. The series presents Bucks County as a microcosm of purple politics in the nation at large, highlighting how issues including race relations and LGBTQ+ rights affect local life in a swing state.

When the series was taking shape in 2021, May said the tone of public debate had made it too difficult for people with opposing views to talk to one another. Most of the interviews featured in the series were conducted with Bucks County residents from across the political spectrum over a period of several hours at a time.

"It's all about trust," May told The Wrap during an interview earlier this year. "It's literally all about listening to folks from the other side, which by the way, neither side has experienced in the last number of years. There is no listening. It's all talking. And if I'm talking to you and I start to touch on politics, you're already getting ready to fire back with whatever you think."

When BCCC canceled Tuesday's screening, the decision led to a wave of speculation on social media about whether backdoor politics were behind the college's abrupt withdrawal. Facebook posts have called into question the motivations for canceling the screening, and some have raised worries about the college setting an example of stifling free speech. 

"This was supposed to be sort of a non-political thing," Benedetto said. "This is why this docuseries was made. To have the event canceled last minute and no explanation seemingly given, it's odd and off-putting. Why would you not want to promote this as a positive thing?"

Although Benedetto praised the Hiway Theater for holding the event on short notice, he said BCCC's cancelation contributed to the kind of tension that keeps Bucks County residents at odds.

"Any time people start speculating about why something happened, it leads to misinformation and leads down a rabbit hole," he said. "Whatever the concern was or whatever the reason was, transparency is everything. If there was a safety concern or there was a concern around protests — whatever it was — I think (BCCC) owes an explanation to the people certainly that were involved in the film."

"Bucks County, USA" is slated to premiere nationally on PBS on Sunday, starting with the first two episodes. WHYY will broadcast the first two episodes locally on Monday, and the remainder of the series will be released over the course of the fall.

May gave a recent interview with the nonpartisan nonprofit The 74 to discuss the making of the docuseries, the powerful role of social media in local politics and the personal traumas that often lurk in communities torn apart by political division.

"We're all angry right now — whether you're on the right or you're the left, we're angry," May said. "And what do we do about it? How do we talk about politics? Well first, if the film can demonstrate that people from opposite sides can come together and talk and still not necessarily agree — there's no rosy ending, it's not all wrapped up in a bow by any means — but there's a level of respect that wasn't there in the beginning."