BALTIMORE (KRON) — The masked teen who was caught throwing rocks at Baltimore police spoke out Wednesday about the humiliation brought on after video surfaced showing him receiving an ultimate smackdown by his mom.
“When I heard, ‘put that brick down,’ I was like, ‘ah, that’s my mother,'” said 16-year-old Michael Singleton.
Toya Graham went to the mall after learning that her son’s school had closed early. Graham spotted some teens tossing rocks and bricks. Among them was a familiar looking boy dressed in sweatpants and wearing a black ski mask, and holding a brick.
“I was so angry with him that he had made a decision to do some harm to the police officers,” Graham said. “I did (get emotional). You know, once he threw that rock down I said, ‘You weren’t brought up like this.'”
Then all hell broke loose. And it was all caught on video by a TV crew.
The 40-second clip shows Graham trying to rip off Singleton’s hoodie and mask, then delivers a vicious smackdown as onlookers – the boy’s friends – watch and record the spectacle with their cell phones.
“It was just World War III from right there,” he said, showing some humor about the incident.
The TV crew and dozens of cell phones turned their lens towards the beating, and it didn’t matter to Graham.
“I wasn’t there to be recorded. I was there to get my child,” she said.
“As long as I have breath in my body I will always try to do right by Michael and show him what’s going on out in society doesn’t have to be you,” she told CNN.