New York Post: 'Forget the National Guard, send in the moms'
The New York Post put a lighthearted spin on the vicious riots that hit Baltimore earlier this week.
In honor of the mother who pulled her teenage son out of the protests to scold him for participating in the disorder, Wednesday's cover declares: "Forget the National Guard ... send in the moms":
On its website, the Post declared Toya Graham "Baltimore Mom of the Year."
CBS This Morning interviewed Graham on Wednesday and asked if she felt like a hero mom.
"I don't. I don't," she said. "My intention was to just hit my son and have him be safe. And at that point I knew that that was - that whole thing was not safe. It wasn't safe at all."
Graham found her son wearing a hoodie and mask during rioting that broke out on Monday, and she yanked him out of the crowd right away. A bystander videotaped Graham hitting her son on the head while yelling at him for "doing this dumb s--t."
"I turned around and I look in this crowd, and my son is actually coming across the street with this hoodie on and a mask," Graham told CBS News. "At that point, I just lost it. ... That's my only son. And at the end of the day, I don't want him to be a Freddie Gray."
Baltimore residents have been protesting the death of 25-year-old Gray since last week, but the protests turned into violent riots on Monday afternoon following Gray's burial.
Police arrested Gray "without force or incident" on April 12 after finding a switchblade knife on him. While in police custody, he suffered a "medical emergency" that severed his spine 80% at his neck, according to a statement from his family attorney, William "Billy" Murphy Jr.
It's still unclear exactly what happened to cause the injury, but many in the community suspect it's a case of police brutality, a reportedly common occurrence in Baltimore.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts referenced the video of Graham berating her son when he talked to reporters about the riots Monday night.
"I wish I had more parents who took charge of their kids tonight," he said.
Graham also saw a lot of support on social media from people agreeing that no-nonsense parenting is needed in communities like Gray's.