A Connecticut parent was caught on video punching a board member at their child's school during a tense meeting over the school's decision to retire its Native American mascot for a less controversial nickname.
Many at the Tuesday meeting at Glastonbury High School were attempting to restore the school's mascot to the Tomahawks after the school changed the nickname to the Guardians last year, citing appropriation of Native American culture.
Over 2,500 residents had signed a petition demanding the old name be reinstated. 
One of the parents at the meeting - identified as Mark Finocchiaro - confronted board member Ray McFall during a recess and their argument got physical as a cell phone camera rolled. 
Finocchiaro - a 53-year-old who owns a barbershop in South Glastonbury - confronted 57-year-old McFall - an ex-Marine - with the two standing nose-to-nose. 
'This is the history of our town,' Finocchiaro can be heard saying. For those who have almost any issues regarding in which in addition to the best way to employ สล็อต, you possibly can e mail us with the web page.  
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McFall pushes Finocchiaro, who then responds by slugging the ex-Marine and knocking him to the ground






Ray McFall, an ex-Marine, now serves on the town of Glastonbury's public school board of education

McFall is seen lightly pushing Finocchiaro away before Finocchiaro floors McFall with a punch.
The ex-Marine did not appear to be badly injured and Glastonbury Councilmember John Cavanna stepped in to stop the fight.    
'I was up near the stage area when I heard voices get raised, and I turned to make my way over there,' Cavanna, who is also a sergeant with nearby Hartford police said. 'Folks in the audience know me as the type of guy that will maintain order. So people started yelling my name, and I turned to see Mr. McFall, who had apparently gone off to confront the other gentleman.'
A spokesperson for the Glastonbury Police Department told DailyMail.com on Thursday that no charges have been filed yet and the investigation is ongoing. 
Finocchiaro was the only one of the 40 residents who spoke during public comment at the meeting. 
Miranda Beach - Finocchiaro's niece - told the Daily Beast the family is in contact with both authorities and lawyers and don't want to comment until 'we get that all figured out.'




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The change was spurred on by a request from the National Congress of American Indians asking them to get rid of it. 
Students and faculty were allowed to suggest a new name and a student designed the new logo for the school, located about 40 miles northeast of New Haven. 
Glastonbury residents stated in a petition that they were denied the chance to 'provide meaningful input' as the school board was only meeting online due to the pandemic and only accepting public comment via the internet. 
One student wrote there was no sense changing the name because it's a tool used by many and that there is no representative of a Native American in the logo, unlike the Indians or the Chicago Blackhawks or the former Washington Redskins. 
Many schools in Connecticut have gone through struggles with renaming mascots referring to Native Americans in recent times. Nearby West Hartford Public Schools board will take a vote soon about whether or not to change the names of the Conard High Chieftains and the Hall High School Warriors.
In 2020, after dropping the Redmen mascot, the Killingly Board of Education voted to reinstate it, according to the[url=][/url]. 
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, several professional and college teams have discarded Native American-tied nicknames and logos, including the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians, who announced they would be called the Guardians in a decision that has also stirred outrage. 



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