The woman hailed 'Mom of the Year' for hitting her son during the Baltimore riots was worried what her pastor would think. Now, he's speaking out.
Everyone has seen what people are hailing as the Mom of the Year smacking her 16-year-old when she saw him on TV being involved in the Baltimore riots.
Mother of six, Toya Graham appeared Wednesday on CBS This Morning and reacted to the video being seen all over the world.
Read: How Parents Can Shut Down Their Kids' Cell Phones if They Won't Call Back.
"To see my son across the street with a rock in his hand...I just lost it," said Graham.
She sprinted out of her house to find him.
“I recognized the baggy sweatpants, he did have the hoodie on, he did have the face mask on. But, it was something about those sweat pants he had on. We made eye contact,” she said.
That's when this mom gave her teenager a dose of tough love he'll never forget.
Read: 'The Wire' Creator Condemns Baltimore Violence
Charlie Rose asked her, “As you were pushing him and giving him that right hook you have, what was he saying to you?”
She replied, “’Mom, mom, mom, okay mom,’ and I was pretty much just telling him, ‘How dare you do this?’”
Now, millions of people around the nation are cheering her.
The Nightly Show host, Larry Wilmore joked, “Yes! You do not mess with mom. She will take you down, son!”
Some people are questioning whether Toya should have hit her son that way.
One online comment read, "She attacked her son, punching him in the face and screaming obscenitites. She went about it the WRONG way."
Psychologist Dr. Jeff Gardere told INSIDE EDITION, "I am an advocate of talking with your children. This appears to be one of those situations where he wasn't listening, number one. Number two, she was horrified, she was fearful and this was her only son."
She added, "I thought, 'Oh my God, my pastor is gonna have a fit!'"
Well, don't worry, Toya, he's not having a fit. INSIDE EDITION's Steven Fabian exclusively spoke to Toya's pastor, Jamal Bryant.
"Is she 'Mom of the Year,' like everyone's calling her?" asked Fabian.
Pastor Bryant said, "Mom of the Century. I wish all of the parents of Baltimore would take on her spirit and go pull your children out of the streets."
