A judge has granted a temporary restraining order filed against a white father who shoved a Black superintendent during a graduation ceremony in Wisconsin, WMTV reports.
In his filing, Baraboo School District superintendent Rainey Briggs detailed the incident where a graduate’s father rushed onto the stage and pushed him out of his daughter’s reach.
“On the night of May 31, 2024, the Baraboo High School was having their high school graduation. At about 8:50p.m., M****** approached the stage quickly and put both of his hands on me to push me out of the way stating “you are not going to touch my (expletive) daughter.” At that time I created space and stated “get your hands off me.” M****** then began to push and pry at me and I again put my hands out to keep M****** away from me. This took place in front of 2-3 thousand people,” the petition for the restraining order reads.
Video of the incident showed a man emerging from the audience and running onto the graduation stage. He grabbed the superintendent and moved him out of the recording’s frame as his daughter was working her way down a line of school officials.
Officers appeared to rush onto the stage to de-escalate the situation.
The senior’s father was accused of racism, with many social media users believing that he didn’t want his daughter shaking a Black man’s hand.
According to reports, the man was referred to the Sauk County District Attorney’s Office for disorderly conduct.
“No employee of the School District of Baraboo should fear for their physical safety when fulfilling their job duties or at any other time,” the school board said in a statement. “That this adult felt emboldened to behave in this way in front of hundreds of students and other adults should deeply trouble us all; this type of behavior will not be tolerated.”
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