The superintendent of a Wisconsin high school who was shoved by an outraged father during his daughter’s graduation has provided more detail on the incident, citing fears of potential gun violence.
Baraboo School District Superintendent Rainey Briggs was pushed by Matthew Eddy, 49, to stop him from shaking his graduating daughter’s hand at the Baraboo High School commencement when she was receiving her diploma.
Briggs said while he initially thought Eddy was a staffer working the event, he realized the situation was much more serious when the fuming father stormed toward him.
He was also worried that Eddy had a weapon on him.
‘This is somebody who is coming right to me and trying to put his hands on me,’ Briggs said, describing the incident. ‘At that point, I’m like, “Hold on, back up, give me some space.”‘
The superintendent of a Wisconsin high school who was shoved by an outraged father during his daughter’s graduation has finally broke his silence
Baraboo School District Superintendent Rainey Briggs (pictured) was pushed by Matthew Eddy, 49, to stop him from shaking his graduating daughter’s hand at the Baraboo High School commencement when she was receiving her diploma. Here he is pictured in a court hearing that took place Friday about the incident.
While Briggs said he didn’t recognize Eddy when he came charging at him, Eddy has reportedly held a building resentment for the superintendent
He later explained he was furious over the district’s treatment of his daughter, who had been expelled for disciplinary reasons that have not been publicly disclosed.
‘You are not going to touch my f***ing daughter,’ the father could be heard saying in video evidence presented by Briggs in a court hearing Friday.
The superintendent said what pains him the most about this incident, which has garnered national attention, is that the confrontation took precedence over the achievements of the class of 2024.
‘My heart goes out to the students, (Eddy’s) daughter, and to the 3,000 people who were in that space who really saw something that shouldn’t have happened, but did,’ Briggs said in a statement.
This incident has pushed district officials to hire increased security as well as a police presence during future school events involving the school community.
During the hearing, Briggs was granted a four-year restraining order against Eddy which carries a $10,000 fine and up to 90 days in jail if violated.
Briggs had made the case in Friday’s hearing that he needed the order to ensure not just his safety but also family, colleagues, and students he encounters on a daily basis.
‘The bottom line is I work with superintendents all across the country and there is not one superintendent in the country that can attest to this ever happening to them,’ he said. ‘And the break in safety, the break in civility is just unprecedented within the work we do every day as educators.
Eddy told the police that his daughter was expelled for an unspecified action. Her father claimed that same action was also done against her by another person.
What set Eddy over the edge is that when he allegedly brought this up to Briggs, the superintendent ‘rolled his eyes’ and dismissed his concerns.
Briggs, however, countered that Eddy had ‘two to three years’ to discuss the issue but never did, and said he was unaware Eddy had an issue with him to begin with.
In an exclusive interview on Tuesday, Briggs told DailyMail.com that Eddy’s lawyer called him offering remorse a day earlier.
But during the interview at his home, Briggs said, ‘An apology just doesn’t make things go away.’
Matt Eddy, 49, rushed to the stage at his daughter’s high school graduation to stop the superintendent from shaking her hand
While Briggs said he didn’t recognize Eddy when he came charging at him, Eddy has reportedly held a building resentment for the superintendent of three years for the way his daughter was treated during her expulsion
Eddy was escorted out of the building following the confrontation and arrested for disorderly conduct.
‘I don’t think an apology, an “I’m sorry” makes this go away because there’s a lot of harm that was caused,’ Briggs told DailyMail.com.
While Briggs confirmed the daughter’s expulsion, he denied any prior interactions with Eddy before the graduation ceremony.
During a court hearing on Friday, Eddy’s lawyer, Karl Gebhard III, attempted to apologize to Briggs on his client’s behalf. However, Briggs dismissed the apology, calling it insincere and insufficient.
Notably, Eddy himself wasn’t even present at the hearing.
‘If you felt like there was an issue with a decision I made or the board made, there were two years that you could have come and sat down and talked to me as opposed to waiting until graduation to come up on stage and ruin it for the kids,’ Briggs said
Briggs told the court he needed the restraining order not just his safety but also family, colleagues, and students he encounters on a daily basis
Eddy’s lawyer told the court his actions were ‘immature, patronizing, incredibly embarrassing’
The incident went viral, igniting social media discussions about potential racial bias. Eddy is white and Briggs was the only black man among several administrators lined up on the stage to hand out diplomas and congratulate the grads.
‘My client would have made that same decision at that time no matter who the superintendent was,’ Eddy’s lawyer said.
Briggs never directly accused Eddy of racism.
‘What I did say is that the optics don’t look good,’ he said. ‘And I want to be very clear that the optics don’t look good given it wasn’t specifically Dr. Briggs that did something, but Dr. Briggs was the one that was attacked.’
Judge Nia Trammel sided with the superintendent and said the evidence ‘certainly suggests to the court that there was an attempt to intimidate’.
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EXCLUSIVE
Wisconsin dad explains why he was furious at superintendent he blocked from shaking daughter's hand
‘Even as Dr. Briggs tried to create space between him and Mr. Eddy, Mr. Eddy continued to approach him, and he ultimately had to be escorted off the property in the process by off-duty police officers,’ the judge said in granting the order.
Eddy’s lawyer Gebhard explained away his actions as that of an immature dad.
‘The truth here is we have a father who was upset with how his daughter was treated by the district, and particularly the superintendent,’ he said. ‘My client’s actions are immature, patronizing, incredibly embarrassing.’
But Gebhard argued that his client didn’t actually hurt, threaten or attempt to intimidate Briggs.
Briggs told DailyMail.com he isn’t ready to forgive the actions and that an apology won’t just make it go away
‘My client made a mistake, and it was an embarrassing, immature act,’ he said. ‘But your honor, immature acts are not harassment.’
Video of Eddy’s interview with police was obtained by DailyMail.com, and Briggs during the hearing clicked on the posted video, displaying it to the judge.
‘I didn’t want him to be able to shake her f*****g hand because he did not deserve it after all the s**t she went through in this district,’ Eddy told investigators.
As his daughter moves through the procession, Eddy rushed in front of the stage, clapping for his daughter, then leapt over the steps to reach Briggs.
After pulling the superintended to the back, the two men exchange words then Briggs pushes Eddy away.
That is when Baraboo High School principal Steve Considine, seen wearing a tan jacket, inserts himself between the two men.
‘When I hear Dr. Briggs say something to the effect of “get your hands off of me…” that’s when I turned my head and see there was some sort of scuffle,’ said Considine.
‘That’s when I went in front and inserted myself between Dr. Briggs and this guy, Mr. Eddy, I don’t know his name, and then he was pushing back against me.’
In footage of a police interview obtained by DailyMail.com, Eddy tried to claim he did not initiate the physical contact between the two men
Several others join in on breaking up the confrontation and Eddy goes behind the stage curtain.
The confrontation occurred during a time of conflict in the district. The superintendent and the school board have been under fire by a group of outraged residents.
They are currently trying to recall school board president Kevin Vodak, who was at the graduation.
Vodak has been accused of favoritism and providing inadequate pay and support for teachers.
Briggs has been criticized for his salary and those of other administrators, while contracts awarded to his consulting firms have also come under scrutiny.
Critics also pointed to a high turnover of staff during his tenure and student behavior problems.
The school district said in a statement: ‘Our primary focus remains on celebrating the achievements of our graduates.
However, surveillance footage shows that when Eddy jumped on stage, he grabbed Briggs arm and walked him towards the curtain
‘We want to ensure that the significance of this milestone and the hard work of our students are not overshadowed by this unfortunate event.’
The district added that it is working with law enforcement.
‘We would like to emphasize that the safety and well-being of our students, staff, and community members is a top priority… The School District of Baraboo is taking this incident very seriously.’