Video of a Baltimore mother slapping her son amid the city’s violent protests is going viral, with the woman winning praise for attempting to keep him out of trouble during the unrest.
Rioting and looting engulfed the city Monday in response to the death of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old man who died April 19 after suffering a significant spinal injury while in police custody.
The woman physically accosted her son as the protests went on around them, admonishing him for trying to partake in the demonstrations.
“You want to be out here doing this?! Get the [expletive] over here! Get over here now!” she screamed, a local ABC news reported.
Dr. Ben Carson, a former neurosurgeon at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital and a potential 2016 GOP White House candidate, urged “parents, grandparents and guardians to please take control of your children.”
“Do not allow them to be exposed to the dangers of uncontrolled agitators on the streets,” Dr. Carson added in a statement.
Police Commissioner Anthony Batts heaped praise on the woman, saying more parents should be as involved in their children’s lives, Mediaite reported Tuesday.
Dr. Phil McGraw said on Fox News Tuesday morning that in 20 years, the young man would thank his mother for “saving his life.”
Fox Business personality Charles V. Payne echoed the sentiment, tweeting, “Mom of the year in Baltimore … my mother would have did same thing.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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