A Brockton high school student has secured a temporary harassment prevention order against Mayor Moises Rodrigues. The existence of the order was confirmed by the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office.
Rodrigues must stay at least 100 yards away from the teen, a Brockton district court clerk confirmed. Further details of the order are confidential because it involves a minor.
The district attorney’s office also said an investigation into an incident involving Rodrigues is ongoing.
“Massachusetts State Police troopers assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office are investigating a formal complaint made by a student and their parents to the Brockton Public Schools regarding Mayor Moises Rodrigues,” a spokesperson for the DA’s office wrote Tuesday.
Questions about Rodrigues’ behavior spilled into the public eye last Saturday when the mayor spoke at Brockton High School’s graduation ceremony. As Rodrigues spoke, a woman approached the stage, yelling, “You have to [expletive] get out of here. You know what you did to my daughter. You know what you did to my daughter. You have to [expletive] get out of here.”
It’s “her graduation,” the woman yelled. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
The city’s public access video captured the confrontation and shows her quickly being escorted away by police officers.
The harassment prevention order was granted Monday, two days after the ceremony.
The identity of the woman who interrupted the graduation ceremony has not been publicly shared.
The Brockton mayor’s office did not respond to requests for comment from GBH News. But Rodrigues told The Brockton Enterprise that an incident allegedly occurred at a local event on May 22.
“At the Huntington Day Parade, someone brought to my attention that I interacted with a student [in a way] that made the student uncomfortable,” he said in a statement. “The School Department is looking into the matter. No restraining order has been granted.”
In a Monday interview with the Enterprise, conducted before the harassment prevention order was served, Rodrigues said he did not know the identity of his accuser.
The girl’s family had asked that he not attend the graduation ceremony, he said, but felt he had an obligation to do so, though he chose not to hand out diplomas to avoid directly interacting with students.
“I owed it to the rest of the students to be there, because it’s customary for the mayor to come, because you’re part of the agenda, you’re the chair of the school committee,” Rodrigues told the Enterprise. In Brockton, the mayor automatically chairs the school committee.
“I’m going to continue to be the mayor of the people,” Rodrigues added. “I come from a culture where we don’t shy away from shaking hands and saying hello to people, and I’m going to continue to do that.”
The Brockton school superintendent’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
No details were immediately available about the basis for the order. The Brockton Police Department referred all questions to the state police, but said no charges were filed over the disruption at the graduation ceremony. State police directed GBH News to the district attorney’s office.
Brockton School Committee member Stephen Pina posted about the graduation interruption on social media Monday, writing: “A significant incident occurred at a district event, and I believe the committee should receive a factual understanding of what occurred, what actions were taken, and whether proper procedures were followed.”
The agenda for Wednesday night’s school committee meeting includes a closed-door executive session, citing matters related to “reputation, character, physical condition or mental health, rather than professional competence, of an individual, or to discuss the discipline or dismissal of, or complaints or charges brought against, a public officer, employee, staff member or individual.”
For the harassment prevention order, a two-party hearing will be held June 22 in which a judge will decide whether the order should last beyond two weeks.
Rodrigues, who narrowly won election in 2025, is the first mayor of color in Brockton’s history. He is a former city councilor and previously worked as a child protection specialist focused on ethnic communities for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, according to a diocesan spokesperson.
GBH’s Matt Baskin contributed reporting.
