Wisconsin School Superintendent Says Parent Who Shoved Him In Viral Video Tried To Apologize Via A Lawyer
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, heâs breaking his silence on the incident, and Eddyâs 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.
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Parent Tried To Apologize After Shoving Wisconsin School Superintendent
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 isnât buying what theyâre selling! Speaking to The Daily Mail, the school official said he hasnât 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. âAn apology just doesnât make things go away,â Dr. Briggs told the European outlet.
âThe outreach was really to indicate that he, Matthew, understands his mishap in terms of what he did, what heâs caused. Heâs remorseful,â the Wisconsin superintendent told Daily Mail.
He continued, âI took that as some form of apology, but thatâs not something I think at this time amounts to a solid apology from my perspective.âÂ
But even with a direct, âsolidâ apology, Dr. Briggs said it canât undo the damage or make anything âgo away.â He added that the students will never get back their uninterrupted celebration again.
âMy 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 theyâll never get back the way they had hoped for this to go,â Dr. Briggs added. âThat was to walk across that stage with excitement, feeling like theyâve learned a lot, feeling like theyâd experienced some amazing teachers. That was all to some degree pushed aside that particular night.â
 Was The Graduation Incident Race Related?
After the incident, the dad reportedly told the police that he was upset over his daughterâs 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.
âI didnât 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,â Matt told the cops. âThe way he acted when my daughter was charged, almost charged, was a bunch of b******âŠhe shook his head and rolled his f*****g eyes.â
However, it should be noted that Dr. Briggs was the only school official attacked at the graduation. Eddy said the situation wasnât planned.
When asked, the Wisconsin superintendent couldnât say whether Eddyâs actions were race-related.
âThe optics donât look good. The optics are what people around the world have gotten to see. And itâs caused them to formulate in their minds what was behind this situation,â Briggs added.
His district is predominantly white, with only 3 to 4 percent of students identifying as Black. This graduation incident isnât the first time heâs been faced with threats since accepting the position in July 2021, though itâs 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.
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