Rioters have plunged the city of Baltimore into chaos, setting police cars ablaze and throwing bricks at officers hours after thousands mourned a man who died from a spinal injury he suffered in police custody.
However an unlikely hero has arisen from the riots in the shape of a mother who dragged her son away from the violence, publicly reprimanding him for trying to get involved in the violence.
The governor declared a state of emergency and called in the National Guard to restore order but Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts has praised the actions of the mother: “These are Baltimore youthful residents, a number of them came right out of the local high schools there on the other side of Mondawmin and started engaging in this.
“And if you saw in one scene, you had one a mother who grabbed their child who had a hood on his head and she started smacking him on the head because she was so embarrassed.
“I wish I had more parents who took charge of their kids tonight.”
The riot was the latest flare-up over the mysterious death of Freddie Gray, whose fatal encounter with officers came amid the national debate over police use of force, especially when black suspects are involved. Mr Gray was African-American.