Wednesday, June 5, 2024 - The father of a Baraboo High School graduate forcefully intervened during the school’s graduation ceremony on Friday, May 31, to stop a black superintendent fromshaking his daughter's hand.
As his daughter walked across the stage to receive her
diploma, the father quickly pulled district Superintendent Rainey
Briggs away before she could shake his hand.
Wearing a white polo shirt and a baseball cap, the man ran
onto the stage right after his daughter received her diploma.
Before she could greet Superintendent Briggs, he grabbed
Briggs by the right arm and pushed him aside, loudly proclaiming, “That’s my
daughter,” as captured in a video by TV43 Baraboo.
In the footage, Briggs responds, “You better get up off me,
man. Get away from me, bro,” as graduation staff and three Baraboo police
officers, including the school resource officer, stepped in to handle the
situation.
A voice in the background can be heard saying, “I don’t want
her touching him.”
Following the incident, police escorted the man out of the
school.
Despite sharing the stage with other school officials,
including School Board President Kevin Vodak and Principal Steve Considine, the
man solely confronted Superintendent Briggs, the only black man there.
District spokesperson Hailey Wagner later confirmed that a
disorderly conduct charge has been referred to the Sauk County District
Attorney’s Office for the father.
This incident follows a controversial moment in 2018 when
students at Baraboo High School were seen giving a Nazi salute in a class
photo, highlighting ongoing tensions within the school community.
Watch the incident that unfolded at the graduation ceremony
below.
Father blocks black superintendent from shaking daughter’s hand during high school graduation pic.twitter.com/cDmC1ceElM
— DAILY POST 🇰🇪 (@dailypost_ke) June 6, 2024
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