A newly released University of Central Florida bodycam video has sparked heated online debate after capturing a confrontation between campus police and transgender student Jarrett Preston Vick during an investigation.
The encounter escalated after Vick objected to being referred to with the wrong pronouns, leading to a tense exchange with responding officers before the situation ended in an arrest.
Highlights
- A resurfaced bodycam video from a 2025 campus arrest has reignited debate over pronouns, policing, and public conduct.
- A dispute over pronouns quickly escalated into an arrest, as critics accused Jarrett Preston Vick of throwing a "tantrum."
- The viral footage has divided viewers, with some criticizing Jarrett's reaction while others urged empathy and better de-escalation from the responding officers.
One viewer reacted, "This is a mental breakdown, regardless of identity. I work in mental health, and treating them the way they believe to be treated is best to de-escalate."
Bodycam footage from last year has recently gone viral after capturing a heated confrontation over pronoun use
Image credits: InsideTheBlueTV
The encounter took place in 2025 after the University of Central Florida police responded to a report involving a possible vehicle theft.
Although Jarrett Preston Vick, who reportedly uses she/her pronouns, was not accused of stealing a vehicle, she became involved in the police interaction and grew visibly distressed after officers referred to her using male pronouns.
In the footage, shared by Inside The Blue TV on YouTube, Vick repeatedly asked officers to address her correctly, saying, "She! She! Just say the right pronoun."
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"Josh, can you please just tell them to use the right pronouns? Please. You know, it's causing me a lot of distress."
Josh, identified as a university employee who briefly appeared in the clip, attempted to calm the situation as the exchange continued.
At another point, Vick shouted, "Why do you let those kids get away with this? They are not supposed to be here."
One responding officer warned that if Jarrett did not lower her voice, she could be placed in handcuffs and taken for evaluation under Florida's Baker Act.
27-year-old Jarrett Vick pleaded not guilty after being charged following the campus incident
Image credits: Orange County Jail Arrests
The confrontation continued to escalate before officers ultimately detained and handcuffed Vick.
Notably, her arrest records list her as male.
According to court records, the confrontation resulted in her being charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, a third-degree felony, along with misdemeanor counts of resisting an officer without violence and disorderly conduct.
She formally pleaded not guilty to all charges on March 27, 2025.
On January 16, this year, a public defender notified the court and prosecutor that they would be representing Vick in the criminal case.
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However, no further records were available after that date, while an earlier update indicates that the case had been put on hold by a judge.
As of this writing, the case is officially listed as closed.
As the bodycam footage spread across social media, the incident quickly turned into a broader debate about police interactions with transgender individuals and personal accountability.
Some viewers believed the officers unnecessarily escalated the situation by repeatedly referring to Jarrett with male pronouns despite her objections.
One commenter wrote, "Why the f**k is this officer antagonizing a student like it is a fun game?"
Netizens were left divided as many criticized Vick's "tantrum," while others urged empathy
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Others, however, argued that regardless of the pronoun dispute, Vick's conduct during the encounter was inappropriate.
"This is not normal. The response to the officer was not reasonable," one person wrote.
Another commented, "This is totally normal behavior for a college student, what are you talking about," before sarcastically adding that students now "throw a tantrum like a 3-year-old."
Others expressed, "Wow, just wow an adult two year old throwing a temper tantrum. Must not have had a parent that would discipline and teach actions have consequences."
Image credits: InsideTheBlueTV
As of this writing, Jarrett remains out of custody on bond while awaiting further pretrial proceedings in Orange County, Florida.
While the incident remains the subject of an ongoing criminal case, mental health experts and LGBTQ+ advocates have long warned that repeated misgendering can have significant psychological consequences for transgender individuals.
According to Harvard Health Publishing, misgendering is more than simply using the wrong pronouns.
The confrontation eventually escalated, and Vick was arrested by campus police after allegedly physically resisting officers
Image credits: InsideTheBlueTV
Experts describe it as an act of erasure that signals to a person "that you do not see them for who they are, that their identity is not valid, and that they do not belong."
Research has also linked frequent misgendering to heightened gender dysphoria, anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, and chronic stress.
Studies published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that repeated misgendering can intensify emotional distress and lead many transgender people to anticipate rejection in everyday interactions.
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At the same time, studies suggest that affirming a transgender person's chosen name and pronouns can have measurable mental health benefits.
Research published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that transgender and nonbinary youth whose names and pronouns were consistently respected experienced a 71% reduction in symptoms of severe depression and a 65% reduction in s***ide attempts compared with those whose identities were not consistently affirmed.
“I mean the student is obviously off the rails. That's hilarious. Security has the patience of a saint…” one critic wrote
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