Vanderbilt student expelled over sit-in led ‘don’t say gay’ protests in Florida, visited Biden White House

Student Jack Petocz, along with several other individuals, were arrested by Vanderbilt campus police after assaulting a security guard during their protest. The students were promptly expelled for their actions, and a number of other students who participated in the protest were put on probation.

Following his arrest and suspension, Petocz took to social media where he claimed he was expelled from the school "for the ultimate crime of caring as 33,000 people have been murdered," referring to the current conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“I was expelled from Vanderbilt University for peacefully protesting the genocide in Palestine,” Petocz said in a post on X.

However, security footage was also released of Vanderbilt students assaulting the security guard in question, with Petocz allegedly present in the video.

Following this, Petocz repeatedly denied being one of the individuals in the video and said he was not near these students at the time of the incident.

A spokesperson for Vanderbilt responded to the incident, stating that, “the university will take action when our policies are violated, the safety of our campus is jeopardized, and when people intimidate or injure members of our community.”

But in his lengthy thread on X, Petocz claimed that the public should trust his words as a student activist over the words of “rich, powerful, white, men” at the university.

Further scrutiny into Petocz's background revealed his long history of left-wing activism. In 2021, the Florida native organized rallies protesting the removal of books from school libraries by local school board members in Florida. At the age of 17, he gained recognition in a New York Times article for organizing these protests.

Additionally, Petocz orchestrated a statewide school walkout in Florida involving around 30 high schools to oppose the dishonestly named "Don't Say Gay" bill signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2022. Subsequently, he was suspended from his high school for distributing pride flags to students during the rally.

In the summer of 2022, Petocz met President Joe Biden at the White House, attending the signing of an executive order aimed at advancing equity for LGBTQ+ individuals. He also became involved with the radical left-wing organization Gen Z for Change.