Wisconsin dad describes drama with his daughter that led to infamous graduation shove
The Wisconsin father who shoved aside a school administrator to stop him from shaking his daughter’s hand at graduation told police it was payback for a perceived slight — apparently after the teen girl got into trouble.
Matthew Eddy, 49, told police Baraboo High School superintendent Rainey Briggs “rolled his eyes” during a disciplinary hearing in which his daughter was facing expulsion, according to video of an interview taken moments after the shoving incident.
“I did not want him to be able to shake her f—king hand because he does not deserve it from her, after all the s–t she went through in this district,” Eddy told police in the video, obtained by WISN.
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“He rolled his eyes when I brought up the fact the same thing happened to her and it pissed me off,” he said, without elaborating on specifics of the incident.
“She was expelled for doing the same thing that was done to her, and nothing was done to the previous people.”
Eddy was caught on camera leaping to the stage as his daughter was collecting her diploma at the Baraboo High graduation ceremony back in May, then grabbing Briggs and pushing him aside saying “I don’t want her touching him.”
In a police report filed after the incident, Eddy said he and his daughter “have had past issues with Rainey and dislike him,” and “wanted to prevent Rainey from having the satisfaction of shaking her hand.”
His statements to police heard in the video of their interview lined up with that story, but at times seemed contradictory.
“I’m not aware of any allegations of Dr. Briggs doing anything to your daughter, specifically,” a school administrator told Eddy during the interview.
“No, it wasn’t him specifically,” Eddied replied, before explaining that Briggs infuriated him by rolling his eyes at the disciplinary hearing.
At another point Eddy claimed “I didn’t touch him until he touched me,” despite video from the shove clearly showing the father putting his hands on an unsuspecting Briggs.
Police concluded Eddy’s shove was premeditated, according to their report, which Eddy appeared to corroborate in the interview video.
“You can’t hop up on the stage right in front of graduation,” a police officer told Eddy. “Like, you obviously know what was going to happen.”
“Oh yeah, for sure,” the father said, before telling police he only had “a little bit” of remorse for how the incident might affect his daughter.
“I will be embarrassed about this as soon as I walk out of here,” he said.
Eddy was charged with disorderly conduct after the incident, and Briggs secured a restraining order against him.
After the incident it was speculated that the shove may have been racially motivated. Eddy — who is white — clearly targeted Briggs, the only black individual on stage during the ceremony.
Race was not brought up during the interview with police, according to the video.
