Eastern Shore residents have framed Wednesday, Dec. 3, as “one day, two injustices” after a pair of decisions they say expose deep racial inequities in local government and policing.
At a packed Salisbury City Council meeting Monday, residents blasted the council’s recent move to appoint Melissa Holland, a white woman, to a District 2 seat vacated by a Black man — a choice made over at least two Black candidates who say they were shut out of the process. Community members also criticized the Dec. 3 arrest of a Black man during a traffic stop that ricocheted across social media, intensifying anger already simmering in Salisbury and Wicomico County.
The region has grappled for months with contentious debates over race, policing, homelessness policy and local cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Monday’s meeting underscored the tension.
Unfair process, residents say
Council members voted 3–1 last Wednesday to appoint Holland to replace D’Shawn Doughty, a Black council member who resigned over questions about his residency. Black candidates Jermichael Mitchell and Natalie T. Saint-Phard said they were denied a fair shot at the seat and have filed public information requests seeking records of how the selection unfolded.
Mitchell called the process “flawed” and said residents deserved a special election. Saint-Phard said she was “cut out of the process” on a technicality, saying the pattern of exclusion was impossible to ignore.
“This process didn’t just exclude me, it betrayed me,” Saint-Phard said.
Both questioned whether the city had prioritized familiarity over community connection.
Holland, who faced questions about potential conflicts of interest — including whether she rents from a developer who frequently does business with the city — did not address those allegations Monday. She said she hopes to promote transparency and unity in her new role.
Traffic stop fuels outrage
Also on Dec. 3, a 13-year-old boy livestreamed the arrest of his father, Keonte Bratten, pulled over after rolling through a stop sign. Becoming agitated after being asked to exit the vehicle, Bratten was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstruction. His two children, the 13-year-old and a 5-year-old son, were both visible on video, shivering in the cold as officers separated them from their father.
Bratten, a community activist who recently lost his wife to cancer, told the council he felt targeted and that the encounter escalated without cause.
“On this most recent stop, even though there were no drugs, no weapons, no illegal activity at all, the situation escalated immediately,” he said.
He said he’s experienced similar stops over the years “that made me feel singled out without justification.”
NAACP leaders said the charges raise broader problems with racial profiling and a lack of police accountability. “That man should have been able to take his children home, get his citation and go on his merry way,” said Wicomico NAACP President Monica Brooks. “When you have law enforcement following you for a period of time … and when you’re a person of color you automatically think something else is going on,” she said.
Brooks said police told her the charges against Bratten were “low hanging fruit.”
“Those charges are not always valid charges, and I don’t care if they’re low hanging fruit or not – they should not be put on there when a simple thing could have not escalated to the level that it did,” she said.
Tineka Harmon, second vice president of the Wicomico NAACP, said “the impact on a person of color is much different than it is for other communities, and that’s the takeaway that I want you to get.”
When considering reforms, she said, police and lawmakers should consider the impact of their actions.
City Council members said they had not yet view body camera footage of the arrest.
Have a news tip? Contact Eastern Shore bureau chief Josh Davis at jdavis@baltsun.com or on X as @JoshDavis4Shore.