Matthew Eddy has been identified as the man who assaulted Baraboo School Superintendent Rainey Briggs during the Baraboo High School graduation on Friday, May 31. Eddy stormed the stage and pushed Briggs away from his daughter before Briggs could shake her hand, reportedly due to the color of his skin.
*Update*
Eddy has since released a statement regarding his actions, claiming that his daughter was a victim of bullying and that the issues were escalated to Briggs, who allegedly didn’t act. However, this seems like an excuse, as it’s not the superintendent’s job to handle student discipline, but rather the principal’s. The superintendent primarily deals with staff, not students.
Incident Details
Oh Hell No! Father blocks Black Superintendent from shaking his daughter’s hand during High School Graduation: “I don’t want her touching him.” His daughter looked embarrassed, maybe she wasn’t. I saw her flip her tassel after what I guess was an embarrassed pause. I hope this video will follow him around for the rest of his life so people can know what he’s all about!
The father of a Baraboo High School student in Wisconsin storms the stage to stop a Black school district superintendent from shaking his daughter’s hand at her graduation ceremony.
But tell me again how we’ve never been a racist country.https://t.co/OQDbecHXuU pic.twitter.com/ZGJwMWyUMg
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) June 5, 2024
Matthew Eddy Career
Eddy works for Holtz Builders, Inc, a company that provides general contracting and specializes in turnkey commercial projects including hotels, apartment complexes, dormitories, employee housing, senior living complexes, upscale condominiums, restaurants, retail space, banks, remodeling and additions, and other commercial projects.
Matthew Eddy Restraining Order & Video
The Baraboo School Superintendent is seeking a restraining order against Eddy. As his daughter was crossing the stage on Friday, diploma in hand, Eddy jogged onto the stage and pushed Briggs away from a handshake line that included four School Board members and school principal Steve Considine. In a video of the incident, Briggs can be heard telling the man to get away from him while a voice can be heard saying, “I don’t want her touching him.”
“We value the civil discourse that allows us to have conversations about those ideas; that’s at the cornerstone of our democracy,” the seven members of the Baraboo School Board wrote in a statement Tuesday. “As we prepare our students to engage as citizens and community members, the adults in their lives should provide models of how to engage in productive civil dialogue.”
Matthew Eddy Wife & Children
Eddy is married to a woman named Kelli Eddy as per his Facebook profile. He appears to have two children, the daughter involved in the incident and a son.
Matthew Eddy Quick Facts
| Employer | Holtz Builders, Inc. (HBI) is a family-owned, general contractor that specializes in turnkey commercial projects. |
| Age | Unknown |
| Wife | Kelli Eddy |
| Children | 2 children, a daughter and a son |
| Trending Reason | Racist action of pushing a Baraboo School Superintendent during his daughter’s graduation |