More than 100 protesters marched from the Inner Harbor to Mount Vernon on Thursday night to interrupt Baltimore's Washington Monument lighting with a peaceful but loud demonstration in the middle of the annual holiday event.
The march followed protests at Morgan State University and across the country, prompted by two separate grand jury decisions in which white police officers were not indicted in the deaths of unarmed black men.
"No justice, no holiday! No justice, no peace!" the protesters chanted, holding cardboard signs in front of the concert stage at the monument lighting and drowning out the Roland Park Country School Semiquavers a cappella ensemble.
The Morgan State University Choir next took the stage. Demonstrators swayed back and forth, their hands up in a "don't shoot" pose, as the choir sang. The protest chants resumed after the song ended, and as the choir left the stage, many singers drew cheers by joining the crowd, also putting their hands in the air.
Because of the protest, the event was shortened by 30 minutes, with two high school choirs cut from the concert and a fireworks display moved from 7:45 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., said Mike Evitts, a spokesman for the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, which sponsored the event.
"The protesters were very peaceful and very cordial, but they were making it hard to hear what was happening at the front," he said.
The organizers didn't want to be insensitive to the protesters, the performers or the people who had come out to see the event, Evitts said, but "ultimately we decided to shorten the program, because you just don't know what could happen."
Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" blared over calls of "Black lives matter!" as fireworks exploded above the Washington Monument.