A Baltimore mother being praised as a “mom of the year” candidate said she acted instinctively when she smacked her masked son in the face and dragged him home from riots over the death of Freddie Gray.

The video of Toya Graham and her 16-year-old son Michael went viral after she was seen on many live news broadcasts taking him away from the violent protests that led to more than 200 arrests, looting and fires Monday night, weeks after the 25-year-old Gray died after suffering mortal injuries while in police custody.

The mother of six can be seen in the video telling her son to “take his f***ing mask off,” and “get over here now,” as she chases him away from the other teens.