The Wisconsin father who went viral when he stormed the stage at his daughter’s graduation to stop her superintendent from shaking her hand has revealed the reason why he intervened.
Matt Eddy, 49, interrupted the Baraboo High School ceremony in front of his mortified daughter in what police believe was a ‘pre-planned’ episode as she was about to receive her diploma on Friday.
As she worked her way through a line of school officials, shaking their hand, Eddy grabbed superintendent Rainey Briggs by the arm shouting: ‘That’s my daughter. I don’t want her touching him.’
In a police report from that night obtained by WMTV, Eddy told police he ‘had past issues with Rainey and dislikes him’, as he was charged with disorderly conduct.
Eddy also told cops that he ‘wanted to prevent Rainey from having the satisfaction of shaking’ his child’s hand.
‘So he went onto the stage to prevent that from happening,’ the police report added.
As his daughter worked her way through a line of school officials, shaking their hand, Matt Eddy grabbed superintendent Rainey Briggs by the arm and pushed him aside (far left)
Eddy told police he ‘had past issues with Rainey and dislikes him’ and ‘wanted to prevent Rainey from having the satisfaction of shaking’ his child’s hand’
Superintendent Briggs told police he did not know who the man was at the time.
He said he knew of one instance where Eddy’s daughter had been disciplined by the school, but that he had nothing to do with it, insisting he ‘has no idea why Eddy reached the way he did.’
It comes after superintendent Briggs took out a restraining order against Eddy over the incident.
In his restraining order, Briggs wrote stated Eddy said he is ‘not going to touch my (expletive) daughter’ Wisconsin News reports.
He added that he ‘created space’ and told Eddy to get away from him.
Dane County Circuit Court Commissioner J. Alberto Quiroga has since temporarily ordered Eddy to have no contact with Briggs until a hearing on June 14.
School District of Baraboo spokesperson Hailey Wagner also confirmed to Time magazine that Rainey has since filed a restraining order against him.
‘The School District of Baraboo is taking this incident very seriously and are working closely with local law enforcement to ensure a thorough investigation,’ Wagner said.
‘Our primary focus remains on celebrating the achievements of our graduates.
‘We want to ensure that the significance of this milestone and the hard work of our students are not overshadowed by this unfortunate event.’
It follows a dispute between a group of residents and Briggs and the school board.
A group of residents 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 come under fire 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.
‘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 they are 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.’
Police escorted Eddy out of the building following the confrontation and arrested him for disorderly conduct
The school board also issued a statement commenting Eddy.
‘No employee of the School District of Baraboo should fear for their physical safety when fulfilling their job duties or at any other time,’ the school board said.
‘That this adult felt emboldened to behave in this way in front of hundreds of students and other adults should deeply trouble us all; this type of behavior will not be tolerated.’
A disorderly conduct charge has been referred to the Sauk County District Attorney’s Office.
Baraboo high school was in headlines in 2018 after an image emerged appearing to show students giving a Nazi salute.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com at the time, Peter Gust insisted that the virtually all-white group of boys were merely waving goodbye to their parents, not making any political statement.
‘I am very frustrated and find it reprehensible that people all over the world can snap to a judgment without knowing any facts and go ape — and it is coming from all over the world,’ he said.
