A Baltimore mother has become an internet sensation after beating her son for throwing rocks at police during Freddie Gray riots in the city.

The woman, later identified as Toya Graham, said she turned on the evening news and saw her son, Michael, 16, on TV throwing rocks at cops in the streets during April 27 riots.

Toya Graham told CBS News of the moment she spotted her son: “I was shocked. I was angry, because you never want to see your child out there doing that.”

“At that point, I just lost it.”

She said she run to the scene, smacked some sense into Michael and half-dragged, half-shamed him back home.

Toya Graham’s actions, caught on video that has since gone viral, earned her praise on social media on April 28 as “Mom of the Year”.

“He knew he was in trouble,” Toya Graham told CBS.

“He said, <<When I seen you>>, he said, <<Ma, my instinct was to run>>.

“I’m a no-tolerant mother. Everybody that knows me, know I don’t play that,” she said.

When asked if hero moms like herself could help curb violence in the city, Toya Graham said: “I think so.”

“A lot of mothers have to provide for their children,” she said.

“As parents, we just have to follow through to make sure that’s where they’re supposed to be at.”

Toya Graham, meanwhile, became a social media sensation – with hundreds on Twitter hailing her under the hashtag “#momoftheyear”.