Transgender cheerleader booted from camp denies assault assault

A transgender cheerleader kicked out of a Texas college camp for allegedly choking a teammate has denied that there was any physical altercation, claiming that she was booted from the team based solely on a dad’s “assumptions.”

Averie Chanel Medlock, 25, insisted that her side of the story wasn’t heard before she was slapped with a criminal citation and kicked off her cheer team for allegedly assaulting another cheerleader on July 21 at Ranger College.

“I was kicked off the team for assumptions, because of the dad’s assumptions of what happened,” Medlock told news stations KTAB/KRBC of the father of her teammate.

Medlock, whose real name is Averie Chanel Satchell, claimed she and the other girl, identified only as Karleigh, had an ongoing dispute that boiled over, prompting her teammate to call her father and claim she choked her.

Medlock then told officers she didn’t put her hands on Karleigh, but she was later cited for assault by physical contact, according to the stations.

Medlock said no one at the camp had any issues with her identity until Karleigh and her father complained.

“They knew that I was trans,” Medlock said. “They knew that I was different from all the other girls. It wasn’t a big deal until her dad came up and made a scene.”

Medlock was able to take part in Ranger College’s cheer program camp after being legally classified as a female in Texas and changing her name about a month earlier, according to the report.

Medlock posted footage of what she called “video evidence” showing that she did not assault Karleigh as her teammate called her a “man” while saying she had a penis.

“Her father is going around saying that I choked her out and made her pass out,” Medlock wrote in the post.

“I was just joking with Karleigh,” Medlock said on the clip. “I’ve never done anything mean to Karleigh.”

Medlock called out Karleigh’s father, Mike Jones, in the post, insisting that he “get his facts straight.”

Jones, meanwhile, has claimed that his daughter called him at 1 a.m. while hiding in a room away from Medlock.

“I just wonder when this person will own up to their own actions!” Jones wrote on Facebook. “And stop trying to ruin our lives!”

Messages seeking comment from Medlock, Ranger police and university officials were not immediately returned early Monday.

Jones declined to give an on-camera interview, KTAB/KRBC reported. But he and other parents said they were uncomfortable with Medlock being at the camp because she’s 25-year-old and born as a biological male.

Ranger College released a statement on the matter, saying all “allegations of this nature seriously” while being committed to providing a discrimination-free learning environment.

“At this time, Ranger College is following all applicable Title IX regulations and Board Policies,” the statement read.

A Ranger Police Department citation obtained by the stations shows Medlock was cited for assault by physical contact on July 22, hours after the alleged attack.