Jeremy Cox, The (Salisbury, Md.) Daily Times 7:57 a.m. EST December 8, 2014

Video Keywords Salisbury east main street Christmas tree

Police clashed with protesters chanting "hands up, don't shoot" during a Christmas parade Sunday. After refusing to take the march out of the center of the parade, three protesters were arrested. VPC

Video TranscriptAutomatically Generated Transcript (may not be 100% accurate)

00:01 Salisbury police clashed with protestors during the annual Christmas tree 00:05 on east main street on Sunday afternoon. March was peaceful until 00:09 liquor but protesters locked arms and refused to get out of 00:12 the middle there and after police commence. It's. Hey hey. After 00:56 repeated attempts for officers amid the protesters peacefully. Tensions are errors 01:00 and within moments to protestors were wrestled to the ground and 01:03 taken away from the scene. One other risk place and bankruptcy 01:07 short distance away and also permanent. Those arrested are facing charges 01:14 ranging from disturbing the peace assault on the second degree. To 01:18 failure to Obey a lawful order. Okay. Okay. This marks the 01:36 fourth protest on the lower short in the past seven days. 01:39 Put us the first to require police intervention.

Protesters clash with a police officer in Salisbury, Md., before the beginning of the city's Jaycee's Annual Christmas Parade on Dec. 7, 2014.(Photo: Justin Odendhal, The (Salisbury, Md.) Daily Times)

SALISBURY, Md. — Three men protesting police treatment of black residents were arrested Sunday before scores of onlookers waiting for the city's annual Christmas parade to begin.

A group of about 50 protesters gathered at about 1:15 p.m. in front of Wicomico Middle School. Then they walked eastbound on East Main Street, chanting "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" — a refrain echoing across the country in the wake of a grand jury's decision not to indict a white police officer for the shooting of a black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri.

Near the Country House store, some of the protesters walked into the middle of the road and linked arms, blocking the parade route.

That's when police took action. After the protesters didn't heed officers' calls to leave the street, the officers wrestled two men to the ground and placed them in handcuffs. A third was placed in handcuffs a short distance away on the side of the road.

The 68th annual Christmas parade, sponsored by the Salisbury Jaycees, was delayed for about 15 minutes while police cleared the scene.

It was the fourth area protest in seven days. All have called into question authorities' treatment of black residents locally and nationally.

But it was the first locally to lead to police intervention. The others — in front of the Salisbury Police Department headquarters, at University of Maryland Eastern Shore and at Salisbury University — have been peaceful demonstrations.

A boy holds a sign during a protest of police treatment of black residents in Salisbury, Md., before the beginning of the city's Annual Christmas Parade on Dec. 7, 2014.(Photo: Justin Odendhal, The (Salisbury, Md.) Daily Times)

Sunday's protest began without incident but didn't end that way.

An unidentified police officer and protester both suffered minor injuries during the scuffle and were treated and released from Peninsula Regional Medical Center, police said.

Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton, who was at the parade, called the decision to hold the protest during the parade "in poor taste."

'It was the wrong place and the wrong time," he said.

According to the Salisbury Police Department, the following were arrested:

• James Kelly Fleming, 37, of Baltimore, on charges of disturbing the peace, obstructing and hindering, resisting and intentional interfering with the arrest of another.

• Brandon Lamont Moore, 22, of Salisbury, on charges of second-degree assault, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, failure to obey lawful order and resisting arrest. Police found a blow torch on Moore, but that hasn't led to charges.

• Jermain Terrell Walker, 40, of Baltimore, on charges of intentional interfering with arrest of another, second-degree assault, disorderly conduct, obstructing and hindering and resisting arrest.

The protesters also chanted "I can't breathe" — the dying words of Eric Garner, a black man who died in July on Staten Island after a white police officer put him in achokehold. Last week, a grand jury declined to indict the officer, Daniel Pantaleo, sparking more outrage and protests.

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