A furious Massachusetts mom hurled explosive allegations toward a politician who had been addressing the graduating class during a commencement ceremony.
Moises Rodrigues, 64, elected as Brockton’s first black mayor last November, had only expressed his pride in addressing Brockton High School seniors before a woman, who was not identified, interrupted the speech on Saturday.
“You have to f–king get out of here,” the woman shouted, much to the shock of the students, in the moment caught on camera. “You know what you did to my daughter.”
She gesticulated wildly before being surrounded by cops.
The woman continued to scream but was escorted out of the ceremony. Cops didn’t arrest the parent despite her furious outburst.
Rodrigues, a US Navy veteran, is at the center of allegations regarding his behavior at Brockton’s Huntington Day Parade, which honors fallen veterans, on May 22.
“At the Huntington Day Parade, someone brought to my attention that I interacted with a student that made the student uncomfortable,” his office told WCVB Monday.
Rodrigues has since been banned from coming within 100 yards of the student, according to a harassment prevention order issued by a judge.
Troopers are investigating allegations that were made by the parent, but Rodrigues told The Enterprise he has “no idea who the student is.”
“I have absolutely, positively, no clue as to who this family is, who the student is, because that was not the intention behind, again, remember, we were at a parade, and we were with hundreds of people,” he emphatically said.
Rodrigues, who was the first Cape Verdean elected to Brockton council in 2013, claimed that all he knows is that the student is a “graduating senior.” He revealed he didn’t hand out diplomas at the commencement.
He defeated city councilor Jean Bradley Derenoncourt by just 260 votes in November.
Local lawmaker Stephen Pina, whose daughter graduated from Brockton High School Saturday, has refused to comment on the allegations.
“Those matters belong to the appropriate authorities,” he said in a statement shared on Facebook.
A hearing that decides whether the harassment prevention order will be extended is set to take place on June 22.
