Baraboo High School father Matt Eddy insists graduation attack had ‘nothing to do with race’ as black supervisor ‘victim’ is granted restraining order

The white Wisconsin father who stormed the stage and shoved a black school principal at his daughter’s graduation ceremony denied Friday that he is a racist.

Matt Eddy did not personally show up for a court hearing, but his lawyer made it clear that the incident had nothing to do with color.

“My client understands the concerns about racism,” said attorney Karl Gebhard III.

“What happened on May 31 had absolutely nothing to do with race.”

Baraboo School Superintendent Rainey Briggs was in court seeking a restraining order against Eddy. It was granted by the judge.

A judge has granted Superintendent Rainey Briggs (pictured) a restraining order against the father who accosted him at the Baraboo High School graduation ceremony

Matt Eddy, 49, rushed onto the stage at his daughter’s high school graduation ceremony to prevent the superintendent from shaking her hand

Briggs told the court he needed the restraining order not only for his safety, but also for the family, colleagues and students he encounters every day.

Eddy, 49, was not present at the hearing at the Dane County Courthouse in Madison, where Briggs testified and presented videos of the irate father forcibly preventing him from shaking his daughter’s hand as she was about to receive her diploma to take.

“You’re not going to touch my damn daughter,” the father was heard saying. He later explained that he was outraged by the district’s treatment of his daughter, who was expelled for disciplinary reasons that have not been made public.

Last week, Briggs was granted a temporary restraining order. During Friday’s hearing, he was given a four-year order, with a $10,000 fine and up to 90 days in jail if violated.

The superintendent stated that he needed the order to ensure not only his safety, but also that of his family, colleagues and students he encounters every day.

“The bottom line is that I work with superintendents all over the country and there is not a single superintendent in the country that can confirm that this has ever happened to them,” he said. “And the breach in safety, the breach in civility is unprecedented in the work that we do every day as educators.

“It’s a real shame because a lot of people were disturbed this night,” he added. ‘My heart goes out to his students, to his daughter, to the 3,000 people who were in the stadium that evening. Hopefully these matters can be resolved in a positive manner.’

Eddy’s lawyer Gebhard explained his actions as those of an immature father.

“The truth is we have a father who was angry about the way his daughter was treated by the district, and especially the superintendent,” he said. “My client’s actions are immature, patronizing and incredibly embarrassing.”

But Gebhard argued that his client did not actually hurt, threaten or attempt to intimidate Briggs.

“My client made a mistake, and it was an embarrassing, immature act,” he said. “But your honor, immature actions are not harassment.”

Eddy’s lawyer told the court his actions were “immature, patronizing and incredibly embarrassing.”

Judge Nia Trammel sided with the chief inspector, saying the evidence “certainly leads the court to believe there was an attempt at intimidation.”

He was also particularly sensitive about claiming this was racially motivated. Eddy is white and Briggs was the only black man among the many administrators who stood on stage to hand out diplomas and congratulate the graduates.

“My client would have made the same decision at the time regardless of who the chief inspector was,” the attorney said.

Briggs never directly accused Eddy of racism.

“What I did say is the optics don’t look good,” he said. “And I want to be very clear that the optics don’t look good, as it’s not specifically Dr. It was Briggs who did something, but Dr. Briggs was the one who was attacked.”

Judge Nia Trammel sided with the chief inspector, saying the evidence “certainly leads the court to believe there was an attempted intimidation.”

‘Even when Dr. Briggs attempted to create space between himself and Mr. Eddy, Mr. Eddy continued to approach him, eventually requiring him to be escorted off the premises by off-duty police officers,” the judge said in granting the order.

In an exclusive interview on Tuesday, Briggs told DailyMail.com that Eddy’s lawyer had called him a day earlier to express remorse.

But during the interview at his home, Briggs said, “An apology doesn’t make everything go away.”

Eddy, 49, was escorted out of the building after the confrontation and arrested for disorderly conduct.

“I don’t think an apology, an ‘I’m sorry’ will make this go away because a lot of damage has been done,” Briggs told DailyMail.com.

The reason for the confrontation remains unclear. Eddy spoke during a police interview about the school that expelled his daughter and blamed school officials for her treatment.

Briggs said he had no role in any disciplinary action and that he did not recognize Eddy when he attacked.

Briggs told DailyMail.com that he is not ready to forgive the actions and that an apology won’t just make it go away

In footage of a police interview obtained by DailyMail.com, Eddy tried to claim he did not initiate the physical contact between the two men.

“I couldn’t have picked this guy out of any crowd,” he said. “It was only then that I was able to pull his name into the system to see who this was.”

At a school board meeting Monday night, board members stood to read their statement condemning Eddy’s actions and defending the superintendent.

Briggs was not present but said he has no plans to step down from his leadership role.

Video of Eddy’s interview with police was obtained by DailyMail.com, and Briggs clicked on the posted video during the hearing and showed it to the judge.

“I didn’t want him to be able to shake her hand, because he didn’t deserve that after all the stuff she went through in this neighborhood,” Eddy told investigators.

It is unclear what incident Eddy’s daughter was involved in, but he alluded to problems with other students that led to her expulsion.

“She was expelled from school for doing the same thing that was done to her,” Eddy said.

The father claimed it was Briggs who initiated the physical contact.

“I didn’t touch him until he touched me,” he said.

However, surveillance footage shows that when Eddy jumped on stage, he grabbed Brigg’s arm and walked him to the curtain.

Eddy denied that he had pre-planned the episode and told police that he even walked away when Briggs gave his speech.

At the start of the nearly two-minute interaction, Eddy is seen with his arms crossed and pacing the stands.

However, surveillance footage shows that when Eddy jumped on stage, he grabbed Brigg’s arm and walked him to the curtain

As his daughter walked through the procession, Eddy rushed to the stage, clapped for his daughter and then jumped over the stairs to reach Briggs.

After pulling the supervisor back, the two men exchange words, after which Briggs pushes Eddy away.

That’s when Baraboo High School principal Steve Considine, seen in a tan jacket, nestles between the two men.

“When I hear Dr. Briggs say something like, ‘Get your hands off me…’ I turned my head and saw there was some kind of scuffle,” Considine said.

“Then I went forward and put myself between Dr. Briggs and this man, Mr. Eddy, I don’t know his name, and then he pushed himself against me.”

Several others join in to break up the confrontation and Eddy goes behind the stage curtain.

The confrontation took place at a time of conflict in the district. The superintendent and the school board are under fire from a group of outraged residents.

They are currently trying to recall school board president Kevin Vodak, who was at the graduation ceremony.

Vodak has been accused of favoritism and providing inadequate pay and support to teachers.

Briggs has been criticized for his salary and that of other directors, while contracts awarded to his consultancy firms have also come under scrutiny.

Eddy denied that he had pre-planned the episode and told police that he even walked away when Briggs gave his speech

He said he was angry at Briggs for rolling his eyes at his daughter during a disciplinary meeting

Critics also pointed to high staff turnover during his tenure and student behavioral problems.

The school district said in a statement: “Our primary focus remains celebrating the achievements of our graduates.

“We want to ensure that the significance of this milestone and the hard work of our students is not overshadowed by this unfortunate event.”

The district added that it is cooperating with law enforcement.

“We want to emphasize that the safety and well-being of our students, staff and community members is a top priority…The Baraboo School District is taking this incident very seriously.”