MANHATTAN BEACH, CA - JUNE 11: Graduates from Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, CA, celebrate by tossing their caps in the air, on the beach next to the Manhattan Beach Pier, after their drive-through ceremony and a walk along the Strand path from Hermosa Beach Pier, on Thursday, June 11, 2020. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
In May, a father shoved a Wisconsin school superintendent at a graduation. Dr. Rainey Briggs reacted by filing a restraining order against the aggressive parent, Matthew Eddy. Now, he’s breaking his silence on the incident, and Eddy’s conversation with police has been revealed.
For context, Eddy appeared to be trying to keep his daughter from shaking hands with the school official. He was immediately escorted out of the graduation venue, and police arrested him for disorderly conduct.
Dane County Circuit Court Commissioner J. Alberto Quiroga later temporarily issued a no-contact order against Eddy until a hearing on June 14.
Still, the dad reportedly attempted to apologize via his lawyer, but Dr. Briggs isn’t buying what they’re selling! Speaking to The Daily Mail, the school official said he hasn’t spoken directly to Eddy since May 31.
Additionally, he feels that the dad ruined a joyous moment for the entire graduating class of Baraboo High School. “An apology just doesn’t make things go away,” Dr. Briggs told the European outlet.
“The outreach was really to indicate that he, Matthew, understands his mishap in terms of what he did, what he’s caused. He’s remorseful,” the Wisconsin superintendent told Daily Mail.
He continued, “I took that as some form of apology, but that’s not something I think at this time amounts to a solid apology from my perspective.”
But even with a direct, “solid” apology, Dr. Briggs said it can’t undo the damage or make anything “go away.” He added that the students will never get back their uninterrupted celebration again.
“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,” Dr. Briggs added. “That was to walk across that stage with excitement, feeling like they’ve learned a lot, feeling like they’d experienced some amazing teachers. That was all to some degree pushed aside that particular night.”
After the incident, the dad reportedly told the police that he was upset over his daughter’s previous expulsion from the district.
Again, the specifics of the situation Eddy mentioned are unclear, but he claimed that his daughter was slighted in a meeting.
“I didn’t want him to be able to shake her f***ing hand because he did not deserve it after all the s**t she went through in this district,” Matt told the cops. “The way he acted when my daughter was charged, almost charged, was a bunch of b******…he shook his head and rolled his f*****g eyes.”
However, it should be noted that Dr. Briggs was the only school official attacked at the graduation. Eddy said the situation wasn’t planned.
When asked, the Wisconsin superintendent couldn’t say whether Eddy’s actions were race-related.
“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,” Briggs added.
His district is predominantly white, with only 3 to 4 percent of students identifying as Black. This graduation incident isn’t the first time he’s been faced with threats since accepting the position in July 2021, though it’s the most severe with actual physical contact.
One thing about Dr. Briggs, though, is that he has no plans to step down from his role, he reportedly told the Daily Mail.
