Early yesterday, video footage of an outraged mother dragging her son away from the violence in Baltimore went viral. According to her, she went to extremes to protect her son.
CBS News tracked down Toya Graham, who said her maternal instincts kicked in upon witnessing her 16-year-old son in the thick of the turmoil. "At that point, I just lost it," Graham admitted to CBS News. "I was shocked, I was angry, because you never want to see your child out there doing that."
Graham added that her son knew he had done wrong the moment they locked eyes: "He knew he was in trouble. He said when 'I seen you,' he said, 'ma, my instinct was to run." Furthermore, Graham, who has five other children, said she was just trying to keep her son from ending up like Freddie Gray:
He gave me eye contact. And at that point, you know, not even thinking about cameras or anything like that. That's my only son and at the end of the day I don't want him to be a Freddie Gray.
CBS Baltimore points out that Police Commissioner Anthony Batts actually referenced Gray's actions during a statement on Monday night:
And if you saw in one scene, you had one a mother who grabbed their child who had a hood on his head and she started smacking him on the head because she was so embarrassed. I wish I had more parents who took charge of their kids tonight.
[via CBS News and CBS Baltimore]
