3 protesters arrested at Salisbury Christmas parade - Delmarva Daily Times
Protesters clash with Salisbury Police before the beginning of the Salisbury Jaycee's Annual Christmas Parade on Sunday afternoon.(Photo: Justin Odendhal photo)
Three men protesting police treatment of black residents were arrested in the street Sunday before scores of onlookers waiting for Salisbury'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 protest on the Lower Shore 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.
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 a chokehold. Last week, a grand jury declined to indict the officer, Daniel Pantaleo, sparking more outrage and protests.
"I understand there's a (national) conversation happening," Ireton said, "but that conversation is mainly being led by the media without addressing issues like generational poverty and children not having success in education."
Sights and sounds from the annual Salisbury Jaycees Christmas Parade held on East Main Street. Video by Justin Odendhal.
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