A Connecticut family was captured on camera punching their child’s teacher during tension over the school’s decision not to keep its Native American mascot.
On Tuesday, many people at Glastonbury’s High School tried to restore their school’s mascot to The Tomahawks. It was lost last year when the Guardians were given the name.
More than 2,500 people signed petitions requesting that the name old be restored.
Ray McFall, a parent identified as Mark Finocchiaro was confronted by Mark Finocchiaro during recess. Their argument escalated when Ray used a cellphone camera to record the event.
Finocchiaro, a 53 year-old barbershop owner in South Glastonbury, was confronted by McFall, a 57-year old ex-Marine. The two stood nose-to-nose.
Finocchiaro is heard saying, “This is our history,”
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Ray McFall is seen confronting Mark Finocchiaro after Finocchairo’s comments at a school board meeting meant to address the school changing its mascot name from the Tomahawks to the Guardians
These are the old and the new logos, as well as nicknames, for Glastonbury High School. They were changed from the Tomahawks into the Guardians.
McFall pushes Finocchiaro. Finocchiaro then responds by punching and knocking to the floor the ex-Marine.
McFall wasn’t seriously hurt, but was knocked to the floor by Finocchiaro’s punch to his face
Ray McFall is an ex-Marine who now sits on Glastonbury’s school board.
McFall can be seen pushing Finocchiaro aside before Finocchiaro knocks McFall to the ground with a punch.
Glastonbury Councilmember John Cavanna stopped the fight because it appeared that the ex-Marine was not in serious condition.
Cavanna who also serves as a sergeant in the Hartford police, said that she was standing near the stage when voices were raised. The audience knows me for being a gentleman who maintains order. People started shouting my name and I looked to see McFall who appeared to have gone to face the other man.
DailyMail.com was informed Thursday by a spokesperson from the Glastonbury Police department that there are no criminal charges and the investigation continues.
Finocchiaro was one of 40 residents that spoke at public comment.
Miranda Beach, Finocchiaro’s niece, told The Daily Beast that the family has been in touch with lawyers and authorities. She said they won’t comment on the matter until they have ‘all figured it out.
Finocchiaro, one of the forty residents that spoke at public comment during the meeting was the last to express discontent with the board members
The meeting was canceled by the board of education without any vote.
Alan Bookman, School Board superintendent, stated that the Board of Education is open to public comments and understands there will be passionate testimony on controversial topics. “But, it’s important that we all listen with respect to one another and that we follow the meeting rules to ensure that everybody can hear.
After the death of George Floyd, the school created a committee that studied the matter in light of the social justice reforms.
It was prompted by the National Congress of American Indians’ request to remove it.
A student and faculty had the opportunity to choose a new school name, and the logo was designed by a student. It is about 40 miles northeast from New Haven.
Glastonbury residents submitted a petition claiming that the School Board was denying them the opportunity to provide meaningful input due to its online meeting.
One student stated that changing the name was futile because the tool is used by many, and that there’s no Native American representation in the logo. This contrasts with the Indians, Chicago Blackhawks, and former Washington Redskins.
Numerous schools have had to rename mascots which were referring specifically to Native Americans. A vote will be held by the West Hartford Public Schools to decide whether or not the Conard High Chieftains are changed and Hall High School Warriors.
According to Hartford Courant: In 2020, Killingly Board of Education dropped the Redmen Mascot and voted to reinstate it.
Last year, the state legislature passed a provision to withhold slot machine revenue from Connecticut’s two tribal casinos from any towns whose schools continue to use Native American mascots.
Nationally, multiple college and professional teams have dropped Native American-tied logos and nicknames. This includes the Washington Redskins, Cleveland Indians, and Guardians.