--- description: A viral video of a Baltimore mother hitting and cursing at her son for allegedly participating in protests drew praise from the city's police commissioner on Tuesday. title: Video of Baltimore Mother Slapping Protester Son Goes Viral image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0bc19af9592dea22/6987ed35524fc04724df0753/mother-baltimore-riot.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Video of Baltimore Mother Slapping Protester Son Goes Viral  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2015 4:49 PM CUT  WMAR  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2015 4:49 PM CUT A video of a Baltimore mother hitting and cursing at her son for participating in the protests that rocked the city on Monday [drew praise from the city’s police commissioner](http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/28/us/baltimore-riot-mom-smacks-son/index.html "undefined"). The mother was caught on live television slapping her son, whose face is obscured by a ski mask, as protesters filled the streets following the funeral for Freddie Gray, who died earlier this month after sustaining a spinal injury in police custody. “I know that’s you,” the mother can be heard shouting as she chases the young man, striking him repeatedly. “I wish I had more parents that took charge of their kids out there tonight” Baltimore police commissioner Anthony Batts said in response to the footage, which went viral. The demonstrations following Freddie Gray’s death began peacefully but turned violent over the past couple of days, with [some protesters attacking police and looting shops on Monday](http://time.com/3837454/baltimore-looting-clashes-freddie-gray-police-protesters/ "undefined"). \[[_CNN_](//www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/04/28/baltimore-mom-slaps-rioter-son-newday-daily-hit.cnn/video/playlists/riots-in-baltimore/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3838330/baltimore-mother-slapping-protester/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3838330/baltimore-mother-slapping-protester/"},"headline":"Video of Baltimore Mother Slapping Protester Son Goes Viral","datePublished":"2015-04-28T16:49:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:44:47.475Z","description":"Baltimore police commissioner praises mother's reaction","url":"https://time.com/3838330/baltimore-mother-slapping-protester/","keywords":["Crime","baltimore"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0bc19af9592dea22/6987ed35524fc04724df0753/mother-baltimore-riot.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0bc19af9592dea22/6987ed35524fc04724df0753/mother-baltimore-riot.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"mother-baltimore-riot","caption":"","creditText":"WMAR","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3838330/baltimore-mother-slapping-protester/","name":"Video of Baltimore Mother Slapping Protester Son Goes Viral"}}]}] ```