Security added at Cleburne Christmas parade after church protest

Cleburne City leaders added security for the Sunday night Christmas parade after a small protest outside a church Saturday. 

A man was arrested for trespassing after shouting at children and their parents that Santa is not real.

"Who does that? Who protests Santa and who tries to ruin Christmas for little children? I mean c'mon," said Scott Cain, Mayor of Cleburne.

The local Kiwanis Club has been having the "Breakfast with Santa" fundraiser at St. Mark United Methodist Church for more than 20 years to raise money for local youth organizations, but the event took a turn when a small group of protesters showed up.

"They came into our parking lot, they had a bull horn, they were following families with their children, talking through the bullhorn, telling them Santa wasn't real and just scaring the children," said Pastor Andy Tyler of St. Mark United Methodist Church. 

Tyler says protestors got aggressive with one man stepping on church property.

"Our number one priority is to introduce people to Jesus, but our second priority is to keep people safe while they're on our campus. So that's why we called the police. We felt unsafe and the children definitely felt unsafe," said Tyler.

Cleburne police responded and say the group was asked multiple times to leave the property by church leaders, but one man refused to leave and kept disrupting the event. 

"They were protesting Santa and yelling he's fake. Ultimately, Christmas is about Christ first and foremost, but Santa is a big part of Christmas as well," said Cain.

Aaron Urbanski of Joshua was arrested for criminal trespass.

Tyler says Urbanski also showed up to the event last year, but left before police arrived.

"Just do what Jesus said and love one another, I think that's what we're commanded to do and that's how we should live our lives," said Tyler.