An incident at an Oklahoma public school involving a 16-year-old nonbinary student who passed away the following day began when the student “splashed water” on girls who had been mocking them, as per a body camera video interview released by the Owasso Police Department on Friday.
The video of the 16-year-old student, Nex Benedict, speaking to an Owasso officer provided the most detailed account of what transpired inside the girls’ restroom on Feb. 7. The incident gained national attention after advocacy groups for gay and transgender rights highlighted Nex’s death as a representation of the risks faced by gender-nonconforming students.
During the approximately 20-minute interview at a local hospital, Nex, who used they/them pronouns, recounted how they lost consciousness while being assaulted on the restroom floor by three girls who had previously ridiculed Nex and their friends for their clothing choices.
“We were laughing. And they had said something like, ‘Why do they laugh like that?’ They were talking about us in front of us. And so I went up there and I poured water on them” from a plastic water bottle, Nex informed the officer. “And then all three of them came at me,” Nex added.
The department also disclosed surveillance footage from inside the school showing students, including Nex, entering the restroom and Nex walking through the corridors with a staff member after the altercation.
Furthermore, the department shared audio recordings of the 911 calls made by Sue Benedict, Nex’s grandmother and guardian, on the day of the incident and then on Feb. 8 as she urgently sought an ambulance for Nex.
Ms. Benedict expressed to the dispatcher around 1 p.m. that Nex kept complaining of a headache, unsure if it was due to Nex’s head injury from hitting the bathroom floor the previous day.
Ms. Benedict mentioned that Nex took medication at night for anxiety and mood swings but hadn’t taken any that day. When asked about illicit drugs, Ms. Benedict denied it, though she noted Nex had vaped.
While the videos provided more context, they did not clarify the cause of Nex’s death. The police department stated that the investigation into the death is ongoing, and initial autopsy results indicated that Nex did not die from trauma. The state medical examiner’s office will release a report on the autopsy and toxicology results when ready.
The passing of a nonbinary student following an altercation at school prompted a reevaluation of Oklahoma’s strict policies for LGBTQ students, including recent laws regarding restroom usage and restricting gender-transition care for minors. State superintendent of schools, Ryan Walters, who has faced criticism for his anti-transgender remarks, described the death as tragic but maintained his stance on restroom usage and gender discussions.
Advocacy groups and transgender students pointed out that the political discourse by Oklahoma leaders in the predominantly Republican state has been perceived by some students as permission to harass and bully their peers.
During the interview with the officer, Nex spoke from a hospital bed at Bailey Medical Center in Owasso, with Ms. Benedict by their side.
Ms. Benedict informed the officer that the girls were persistent in bothering Nex. “They’re making comments, throwing stuff, calling us names,” she recounted based on Nex’s statements.
The officer then asked Nex to narrate the events. Nex mentioned that while they had informed their family about the previous bullying, they had not reported it to school authorities. “I didn’t really see the point in it,” Nex explained.
Nex conveyed that other students targeted Nex and their friends due to their clothing choices. The discussion did not touch on Nex’s gender identity or that of their friends. Ms. Benedict referred to Nex by their birth name and pronouns during the police interview and in the 911 calls.
Just before the altercation, Nex had been conversing with friends in the restroom while the girls were engaged with their own friends nearby, Nex stated.
Describing the altercation, Nex shared, “they grabbed onto my hair. I grabbed onto them. I threw one of them into a paper towel dispenser, then they got my legs out from under me and got me on the ground. My friends tried to intervene, but I’m not sure, I blacked out.”
The officer suggested to Nex and Ms. Benedict that pursuing criminal charges might not be advisable since Nex initiated the incident by splashing an object on another individual.
While acknowledging that the other party had no right to lay hands on Nex, the officer highlighted the insignificance of pursuing charges over such a minor issue. Ms. Benedict and Nex agreed not to pursue charges at that moment.
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