Do not mess with this mom. As the situation in Baltimore escalated on Monday, April 27, city officials asked parents to get their children off of the streets, and one mother was more than cooperative.
A viral new video posted to Instagram on Monday night features a local mom in search of her son through the raucous crowd of rioters. As soon as she spots him, the peeved parent nabs her son, slaps him multiple times across the head, and starts dragging him home. (The rioting started on Monday afternoon in West Baltimore, close to the location where 25-year-old Freddie Gray was arrested on April 12. Gray suffered a spinal cord injury while in police custody, and died on April 19. Rioters and protesters have joined together to call attention to his death.)
An eagle-eyed observer watching the local news caught the mother knocking some sense into her teenage son and shared it on social media. "That awkward moment your mom catches you rioting," the Instagram user (@ine3) wrote, alongside a clip from the emotional moment. "#baltimore #baltimoreriots #prayforthiskid."
The mother — whose identity is unknown — was one of many parents to pull their kids out of the intense rioting on Monday evening after Baltimore police sent out a bulletin asking parents to help out with the situation. "Several juveniles are part of these aggressive groups. WE ARE ASKING ALL PARENTS TO LOCATE THEIR CHILDREN AND BRING THEM HOME," the Baltimore Police Department wrote on their social media accounts.
Mashable also obtained video — with audio — of the same mom scolding her son after finding him in the crowd. "What the f— were you thinking?" she demands angrily while the teen, clad in head-to-toe black, looks flustered and annoyed that he was caught. Together, the two head back to her car.
Watch the video above.