An incident at Baraboo High School in Wisconsin led to a parent being charged with disorderly conduct. At a commencement ceremony at the high school on May 31, 2024, students were being called up on stage to receive their diplomas. One parent, however, reportedly “wanted to prevent [the superintendent] from having the satisfaction of shaking” his child's hand, so he went on stage and pushed superintendent Rainey Briggs. Some have wondered if the incident was racially motivated, as there were other school officials on stage, but the dad only pushed Briggs, who is Black.
Briggs has spoken up about the incident.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Briggs said "there’s a lot of harm that was caused," saying an apology wouldn't be enough to resolve the issue. He said that he has not spoken to the dad who pushed him, but he was contacted by the dad's attorney.
He added that the fact that the dad's attorney reached out to him shows that the dad might be "remorseful."
The incident also impacted the students who were graduating, Briggs explained.
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"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 told the Daily Mail.
The superintendent added that the moment was supposed to be exciting for students, "feeling like they’ve learned a lot, feeling like they’d experienced some amazing teachers" but "that was all to some degree pushed aside that particular night."
A video shows the dad, Matthew Eddy, speaking to Baraboo Police Officer Brandon Meyer shortly after the incident. Eddy told Meyer that he didn't want Briggs to shake his daughter's hand because "he does not deserve it from her," WISN reported.
The outlet reported that the dad was upset about something that happened during a meeting with district officials. The meeting was reportedly about expulsion.
A district administrator was also present during the conversation between Eddy and Meyer. The district administrator questioned why Briggs in particular was targeted.
Eddy admitted that "it wasn't [Briggs] specifically."
WMTV reported that the incident made Briggs anxious, according to the police report. Briggs filed a restraining order against the dad and a temporary restraining order was granted.
Briggs told the Daily Mail that "the optics don’t look good" but "ultimately, Mr. Eddy is the only one that could tell you whether it was racial or not."
