Baltimore ‘hero mom’ reflects on city riots 6 months later

Monday marks six months since Freddie Gray died after being placed under arrest by Baltimore police. In the following days, riots erupted around the city.

Among the most iconic moments during the unrest was when mother Toya Graham tore her son off the streets. Graham was hailed a hero, but today, she still can’t find peace, reports CBS News correspondent Jeff Pegues.

“Just this morning, I broke down. And you know, I — it’s just, it’s hard. It’s hard,” Graham said.

Graham said she’s struggling to keep her home. Even though money is tight, she’s trying to remain optimistic for her children.

“I know a lot of mothers out here understand where I’m coming from,” she said.

“We’re struggling,” Graham said. “We’re struggling, we’re just trying to make sure we keep food on our table for our children, keep them out harm’s way, keep them out of danger.”

That is her greatest challenge. Last May, the single mother of six was caught on camera repeatedly slapping her 16-year-old son Michael. He was dressed in black, with his face covered and had joined the rioters.

Graham was celebrated for doing the right thing and appeared on “CBS This Morning.”

“Do you feel likea hero mom?” Pegues asked her.

“I don’t feel like a hero mom — I never did,” Graham said. “You know, I never did. He’s my son. And so, if I have to be out there to stop him from doing things that he shouldn’t be doing, then that’s what I’m gonna do.”

She’s like a lot mothers and fathers in the embattled city. Six months after the riots, Baltimore is still reeling.

Anthony Batts, the police commissioner during the riots, has been fired. The mayor who fired him has announced that she will not seek another term as a wave of violence grips the city.

So far in 2015 there have been 267 homicides — more than a 50-percent spike over last year at the same time. In addition, the number of people injured due to gun violence is nearly 80 percent higher.

“When the sun goes down, do you feel safe out here on the streets at night?” Pegues asked Michael, Graham’s son.

“No, because it’s dangerous out here at night, you gotta keep looking out your surroundings to see if someone’s going to harm you,” he said.

Michael admitted he’s scared.

“I lost two of my friends. He was gunned down in the store on Liberty Heights and Garrison,” he said.

You never know what’s going to happen next, Michael said.

“You might wake up one day, or you might not wake up one day,” he said.

Michael’s mother now holds him even closer than she did before.

“He’s a good boy,” Graham said. “I’m 43 years old, and I know there’s nothing out there but harm. But as a 16-year-old, he wants to be outside.”

She understands that desire, she said.

“But I’m going to protect him,” Graham added.

“I just don’t feel like a hero. This is a real struggle,” she said. “When the cameras is gone, the reality of life is still there. It’s still there.”