T.I. was adamant he didn't deserve to be arrested for an incident with the security guard at his gated community, because he was just trying to ask the guy some questions ... according to security footage from the jail.
In the vid -- obtained by TMZ -- the rapper's pretty calm and collected while going through the booking process at the Henry County Jail in Georgia early Wednesday morning ... until he tries to get an explanation from the cop who arrested him.
That's when the officer tells Tip he was "acting like a fool" ... which he strongly denies. T.I. claims it's his right as a homeowner in the community to question the security guard working the gate, but as you can see ... the cop disagrees.
Eventually the cop and T.I. do come to an agreement, though ... to settle matters in court.
As we reported ... T.I. was arrested for simple assault, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness after getting into it with the security guard. According to the police report, the guard felt threatened and called cops, and when they arrived they could smell alcohol on the rapper's breath.
He was released without bail.