The Wisconsin father who shoved his daughter’s school superintendent aside to prevent him from shaking her hand allegedly did it because he and his child have “had issues” with the administrator and “dislike him,” according to reports.
Matthew Eddy, 49, was caught on camera shoving aside Baraboo High School superintendent Rainey Briggs at his daughter’s high school graduation ceremony in late May while saying, “That’s my daughter,” and “I don’t want her touching him.”
It remains unclear exactly what sparked the incident, but a police report recently obtained by WMTV suggested Eddy had “pre-planned” it based on what he told cops shortly after.
Eddy told police he and his daughter “have had past issues with Rainey and dislike him,” according to the report, before saying he “wanted to prevent Rainey from having the satisfaction of shaking.”
“So he went onto the stage to prevent that from happening,” the report continued.
The father told police he was only sorry about the incident for how it might have affected his daughter.
Briggs denied knowing who Eddy was at all, saying that he only recalled one incident where his daughter was disciplined and that he “has no idea why [Eddy] reached the way he did.”
Eddy was escorted out of the building and charged with disorderly conduct, and Briggs filed for and was granted a restraining order against him.
Briggs detailed the bizarre encounter in his petition to the Dane County Court, describing how Eddy “approached the stage quickly and put both of his hands on me to push me out of the way stating ‘You are not going to touch my f–king daughter.’”
The administrator said he “created space” and told Eddy to stop touching him, but that the father continued to “push and pry at me.”
“This took place in front of 2-3 thousand people,” Briggs added.
Briggs himself has not filed charges against Eddy.
Eddy appeared to single out Briggs specifically, leaving several other school officials untouched and free to shake his daughter’s hand.
Briggs has recently been tangled in controversy alongside school board president Kevin Vodak, who has faced calls to be removed over allegations he misused taxpayer money to boost pad administrator salaries.
Vodak, however, was onstage during the incident and even shook the daughter’s hand, while Eddy only appeared to target Briggs.
Some have speculated that the incident may have been racially motivated, as Eddy is white and Briggs appeared to be the only black individual on stage.
The school has also been the center of racial controversy in the past — in 2018 a group of seniors were photographed giving the Nazi salute and flashing other white power-associated signs during a prom photoshoot.
Eddy did not respond to requests for comment from The Post.
