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 rushed the stage and shoved a black school superintendent during his daughter's high school graduation ceremony denied on 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 racism concerns,' 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 applying for a restraining order against Eddy. It was granted by the judge.

Eddy, 49, was a no show to the hearing in Dane County Courthouse in Madison, where Briggs testified and presented videos showing the irate dad forcibly stop him from shaking hands with his daughter as she was about to receive her diploma.

'You are not going to touch my f***ing daughter,' the father could be heard saying. He later explained he was furious over the district's treatment of his daughter, who had been expelled for disciplinary reasons that have not been publicly disclosed.

Last week, Briggs was given a temporary restraining order. During Fridays' hearing, he was granted a four-year order that carries a $10,000 fine and up to 90 days in jail if violated.

The superintendent made the case that he needed the order to ensure not just his safety but also family, colleagues, and students he encounters on a daily basis.

'The bottom line is I work with superintendents all across the country and there is not one superintendent in the country that can attest to this ever happening to them,' he said. 'And the break in safety, the break in civility is just unprecedented within the work we do every day as educators.

'It's really unfortunate because there were a lot of people disrupted this night,' he added. 'My heart goes out to his students, to his daughter, to the 3,000 people in the stadium that night. Hopefully these things can be resolved in some positive way.'

Eddy's lawyer Gebhard explained away his actions as that of an immature dad.

'The truth here is we have a father who was upset with how his daughter was treated by the district, and particularly the superintendent,' he said. 'My client's actions are immature, patronizing, incredibly embarrassing.'

But Gebhard argued that his client didn't 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 acts are not harassment.'

He was also particularly sensitive to claim this was racially motivated. Eddy is white and Briggs was the only black man among several administrators lined up on the stage to hand out diplomas and congratulate the grads.

'My client would have made that same decision at that time no matter who the superintendent was,' the lawyer said.

Briggs never directly accused Eddy of racism.

'What I did say is that the optics don't look good,' he said. 'And I want to be very clear that the optics don't look good given it wasn't specifically Dr. Briggs that did something, but Dr. Briggs was the one that was attacked.'

Judge Nia Trammel sided with the superintendent and said the evidence 'certainly suggests to the court that there was an attempt to intimidate'.

'Even as Dr. Briggs tried to create space between him and Mr. Eddy, Mr. Eddy continued to approach him, and he ultimately had to be escorted off the property in the process 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 called him offering remorse a day earlier.

But during the interview at his home, Briggs said, 'An apology just doesn't make things go away.'

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

'I don't think an apology, an "I'm sorry" makes this go away because there's a lot of harm that was caused,' Briggs told DailyMail.com.

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

Briggs said he has no role in any disciplinary action, and that he didn't recognize Eddy when he came charging.

'I wouldn't have been able to pick this guy out of any crowd,' he said. 'It wasn't until after that I was able to pull his name up in the system to see who this was.'

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

Briggs did not attend, but said he has no intention of stepping down from his leadership role.

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

'I didn't want him to be able to shake her f*****g hand because he did not deserve it after all the s**t she went through in this district,' Eddy told investigators.

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

'She was expelled for doing the same thing that was done to her,' Eddy said.

The father claimed that 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 Briggs arm and walked him towards the curtain.

Eddy denied pre-planning the episode and told police he even walked out when Briggs gave his speech.

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

As his daughter moves through the procession, Eddy rushed in front of the stage, clapping for his daughter, then leapt over the steps to reach Briggs.

After pulling the superintended to the back, the two men exchange words then Briggs pushes Eddy away.

That is when Baraboo High School principal Steve Considine, seen wearing a tan jacket, inserts himself between the two men.

'When I hear Dr. Briggs say something to the effect of "get your hands off of me..." that's when I turned my head and see there was some sort of scuffle,' said Considine.

'That's when I went in front and inserted myself between Dr. Briggs and this guy, Mr. Eddy, I don't know his name, and then he was pushing back against me.'

Several others join in on breaking up the confrontation and Eddy goes behind the stage curtain.

The confrontation occurred during a time of conflict in the district. The superintendent and the school board have been under fire by a group of outraged residents.

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

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

Briggs has been criticized for his salary and those of other administrators, while contracts awarded to his consulting firms have also come under scrutiny.

Critics also pointed to a high turnover of staff during his tenure and student behavior problems.

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

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

The district added that it is working with law enforcement.

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