A transgender cheerleader has been kicked out of a Texas college cheer camp after allegedly assaulting a teammate who called her a “man with a penis.”
Averie Chanel Medlock, 25, was booted out of Ranger College cheerleading camp in Texas and criminally assaulted by physical contact last week. She is accused of choking a teammate, identified only by her first name, Karleigh, who she claimed made transphobic remarks.
The girl and other teammates allegedly locked themselves in a locker room to hide from the angry medlock, who claimed she was being targeted because of her race and gender.
Police were called to the scene along with Karleigh’s father, Mike Jones, and Medlock was removed from campus.
Medlock posted a video on her Facebook of her – albeit angry – talking to teammates, which she says proves she wasn’t physically violent during the argument. However, Jones said the video was only part of the truth and called for the release of security footage and body camera footage of the police response.
Averie Chanel Medlock, 25, was booted out of Ranger College cheerleading camp last week and subjected to criminal assault by physical contact citation
Medlock allegedly smothered a teammate named Karleigh, who she said made transphobic comments about not being included on the team
“Well folks I’m officially retired as a cheerleader as of 5:30 last night,” Medlock wrote in a Facebook post last week. “One girl on the team was very disrespectful and told me I was a MAN with a penis and stuff [guys] shouldn’t be on the team.’
“I stood up for myself and she called her mum and dad because she was scared of me [stood] up for me. Her father said, “She still has testosterone and a penis, and I will kill anyone who comes after my daughter.”
However, Jones’ account of the incident was very different, writing in a Facebook post that he was called at 1am by his terrified daughter after she barricaded herself behind a door to hide from medlock she allegedly received had choked. Several teammates corroborated this account of events.
“I am asking you what you would have done if you had received a call at 1am from your daughter saying you locked yourself in the room with other girls after that person said you want to fight and then moved on would have her hands around my daughter’s neck,” he wrote.
Medlock posted a video on her Facebook of her – albeit angry – talking to teammates, which she says proves she wasn’t physically violent during the argument. In the video, she says everything she did to Karleigh was just a joke
Mike Jones, the father of the girl who allegedly assaulted Medlock, asked that security footage from the hallway where the incident took place be released
Speaking to KTAB and KRBC, Medlock insisted the problems were caused by Jones and Karleigh and that she was being targeted because of her gender.
“They knew I was trans. They knew I was different from all other girls. It wasn’t a big deal until her dad came up there and made a scene,” she said.
“I got kicked off the team for assumptions because the dad made assumptions about what happened.”
The outlet noted that during her conversation with Medlock, she repeatedly claimed that the citation she received was only for assault, but a copy of the citation and a call to the Eastland County Attorney’s Office revealed it was undesired Touch acted.
In the video of the altercation that Medlock posted — which is mostly audio — the cheerleader can be heard slamming teammates behind a closed door for their transphobic comments.
She can also be heard telling teammates that she “barely touched” Karleigh, insisting any contact was just a joke.
“B***h, come out then,” Medlock says to one of the women trapped in the room.
“You are a man,” replies the woman. When Medlock replies that she’s a girl, the woman in the room says, “You have a penis.”
The indictment issued to Medlock the night of the incident. It cited her for “assault by physical contact”
In a statement, Ranger College said the school was opening a Title IX investigation into the incident
In a statement, Ranger College said the school was opening a Title IX investigation into the incident.
“Ranger College takes all allegations of this kind seriously and is committed to a non-discriminatory learning environment. At this time, Ranger College is following all applicable Title IX regulations and Board policies,” the school said.
News of the debacle comes as the place of transgender people in sports became hotly debated across the country after UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas broke swimming records to win the NCAA Division 1 women’s national championship.
Born to a male, Thomas competed on the UPenn men’s swim team from 2017-2020, but made the switch and began competing – and collecting medals – on the women’s team in 2021.