Non-binary teenager in Oklahoma: Surveillance video reveals new details about the death of Nex Benedict

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Deceased teenager Nex Benedict: Bullying “because of the way we dress”

Photo: Sue Benedict / AP

In the US state of Oklahoma, a 16-year-old non-binary person died, possibly as a result of a physical assault.

The incident took place on February 7th, and Nex Benedict was dead the following day. The exact cause of death is still unclear.

However, the day before there had been an incident at the school in Owasso, a suburb of Tulsa.

According to media reports, there was an argument in the girls' toilet between three classmates, Nex Benedict and another person who also identifies as non-binary.

On Friday, the Owasso Police Department released a video from the body camera of a police officer who questioned Nex Benedict in the hospital on the day of the altercation, as the New York Times reports.

In the video, Nex talks about throwing water on the students after they made fun of Nex.

The 20-minute interview is the most comprehensive account yet of what happened in the girls' restroom on February 7th.

The incident attracted widespread attention after LGBTQ+ groups raised awareness about it.

He is an example of the dangers that non-binary young people face in schools.

In the video, Nex speaks to the police officer from a hospital bed.

Nex describes being "passed out" while being beaten by three girls on the toilet floor.

They had previously made fun of Nex and his friends “because of the way we dress.”

The gender identity of Nex or the friends was not discussed in the interview with the police officer.

Police officials advised against pressing charges

"We laughed.

And they said something like, 'Why are they laughing so much?' They were talking about us in front of us.

So I went and poured water from a plastic bottle on her," Nex says in the video.

"And then all three of them attacked me."

During the argument, the girls grabbed Nex by the hair.

»I held her.

I threw one of them into a paper towel dispenser, then they pulled my legs out from under me and threw me on the floor," Nex says in the video.

The police officer says in the video that there is no point in filing a criminal complaint because Nex started the argument by throwing an object.

That doesn't give the girls the right to physically attack Nex, the official continued.

But he would be reluctant to see Nex hang himself criminally "over something so insignificant."

In the video, Nex and Sue Benedict, Nex's grandmother and caregiver, agree not to press charges.

Police also released surveillance video from inside the school showing students, including Nex, entering the restroom and Nex later walking through the school hallway with a security guard.

Nex probably complained of a headache

The agency also produced audio recordings of 911 calls made by Sue Benedict on the day of the altercation and then on Feb. 8 when she called an ambulance for Nex.

In the recording, Benedict says that Nex kept talking about headaches.

Benedict is not sure whether these came from Nex's head injury.

When asked on the phone, Benedict said that Nex took medication for anxiety and mood swings at night, but not that day.

Nex did not take any illegal drugs, but did use a “vape”, i.e. an electronic cigarette.

The recordings reveal more details, but do not answer the question of how Nex died.

According to the New York Times, the death is still being investigated.

However, the police said that preliminary autopsy results showed that Nex did not die of “trauma.”

The report on the autopsy and toxicology results will be released as soon as it is ready.

Activists see a connection to political decisions

The well-known US civil rights organization ACLU described the death of Nex Benedict as an "inevitable consequence of hateful rhetoric and discriminatory legislation directed against trans youth."

Oklahoma has restrictive policies regarding the rights of trans people and the LGBTQ+ community.

Since 2022, for example, students have only been allowed to use toilets that correspond to the gender recorded on their birth certificate; unisex toilets are not allowed in schools.

Republican politician and Oklahoma school board chairman Ryan Walters has been repeatedly criticized for his anti-transgender rhetoric.

He told the New York Times that the death of Nex Benedict was a tragedy, but that it did not change his views on trans people.

He emphasized that schools in Oklahoma continue to not allow students to use preferred names or pronouns that differ from their birth gender.

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