The father who sparked outrage after interrupting his daughter's graduation ceremony to prevent the superintendent from shaking her hand claims he wasn't the one to initiate physical contact, a statement contradicted by video footage of the incident.
Matthew Eddy was accused of trying to ruin his daughter's special moment when he stormed the stage on May 31 to push aside Baraboo High School Superintendent Rainey Briggs.
Highlights
- Matthew Eddy, the father who interrupted his daughter's graduation to push Superintendent Rainey Briggs aside, claims Briggs touched him first.
- Video footage contradicts Eddy's claim that he didn't initiate physical contact with the superintendent.
- Eddy claims he acted that way because Briggs had slighted his daughter during a previous incident that led to her expulsion.
A video from the incident shows Eddy's daughter moving down the line of school district officials to shake their hands at the Wisconsin institution.
"That's my daughter," the 49-year-old father can be heard saying as he shoved Superintendent Briggs.
Image credits: WISN 12 News
"You better get up off me, man. Get away from me, bro," Briggs replied.
Following the incident, the father was escorted out of the building and charged with disorderly conduct. The superintendent filed for and was granted a temporary restraining order against him.
Dane County Circuit Court Commissioner J. Alberto Quiroga has ordered Eddy to have no contact with Briggs until a hearing on June 14, as per the DailyMail.
A newly released video of Eddy's interview with the police shows the father's recount of the events.
Eddy claimed he acted that way because he felt Briggs had slighted his daughter during a meeting for a previous incident at the Baraboo School District.
"I didn't touch him until he touched me," Matthew Eddy told the police following the incident
Image credits: WISN 12 News
"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," he said.
"The way he acted when my daughter was charged, almost charged, was a bunch of b******t. He shook his head and rolled his f*****g eyes.
"I'm not cool with him shaking my daughter's hand after he treated her the way he did."
While the event Eddy referred to remains unknown, he revealed that it led to his daughter's expulsion and a legal battle. The father suggested he disagreed with how Briggs handled the situation at the time.
Eddy had interrupted the ceremony to prevent Superintendent Rainey Briggs from touching his daughter's hand as she moved down the line of school district officials
Image credits: WISN 12 News
Image credits: WISN 12 News
"She was expelled for doing the same thing that was done to her. There was a meeting with him. He was rolling his eyes when I brought up the fact that the same thing had been done to her, and it p****d me off because we're in the middle of a court case," he said.
"I didn't touch him until he touched me," Eddy added. However, footage clearly shows that he touched the superintendent first, grabbing his arm and pushing him off stage.
Baraboo High School Principal Steve Considine, who witnessed the incident, said that Eddy was "aggressive" and tried to fight back after he was "cornered" as the situation escalated.
"[We] kind of cornered him, so he really couldn't go anywhere, so he tried to lift up the curtain; there were gymnastics mats underneath, so he scurried out," Considine said, as per the DailyMail.
"The guy was very aggressive. It was disgusting behavior."
The Wisconsin father claims Briggs had slighted his daughter during a prior incident that resulted in her expulsion and a legal battle
Image credits: WISN 12 News
Image credits: Baraboo City Police Department
Superintendent Rainey Briggs also gave his version of the story. In an interview published by the DailyMail on Wednesday (June 12), he revealed that Eddy's attorney had contacted him to express "remorse" over his actions.
"An apology just doesn't make things go away," Briggs said.
"I don't think an apology, an 'I'm sorry,' makes this go away because there's a lot of harm that was caused.
"My heart goes out to, number one, his daughter, and to those 250 other students that were in the space. This is a moment in time for them that they'll never get back the way they had hoped for this to go."
Briggs further addressed the speculations that Eddy's behavior may have been racially motivated, saying, "The optics don't look good. The optics are what people around the world have gotten to see. And it's caused them to formulate in their minds what was behind this situation.
"But ultimately, Mr. Eddy is the only one that could tell you whether it was racial or not."
"I didn't want him to be able to shake her f***ing hand because he did not deserve it after all the sh*t she went through in this district," he said
Moreover, the superintendent reiterated that he didn't know Eddy prior to the incident.
"I have not personally had any interactions with him. I wouldn't have been able to pick this guy out of any crowd. It wasn't until after that I was able to pull his name up in the system to see who this was."
Briggs said that he "created space" during the altercation and told the father to get away from him.
A group of residents have criticized the high staff turnover and student behavior problems during Briggs' tenure, which began in July 2021.
Other complaints include contracts with consulting firms belonging to Briggs and one of his associates in 2021 and 2024, as well as salaries for administrators, including Briggs and Business Director Yvette Updike, according to Wisconsin News.
"The dad should have let the handshake decision up to his daughter," a Facebook user commented
