This was a weird story. She must have known he was rioting if she bought him a vest so that he would be protected from rubber bullets...That’s hardly a normal request!
I noticed in another article that the kid had actually served two years in a youth facility for a felony (didn’t specify what kind, but two years is a fair stint) and had been released a few months earlier. He was still on probation, I believe, but Granny said he was “getting his life together” And “talking about getting a job.” Truly a strange story.
She may have bought him the vest for protection during protesting, not rioting.