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NEX BENEDICT MATTERS  
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Judd Legum, Tesnim Zekeria, and Rebecca Crosby
February 21, 2024
Popular Information [[link removed]]

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_ The 16-year-old non-binary student's ultimately fatal attack in her
high school bathroom occurred amid a concerted effort in Oklahoma, led
by powerful state officials and far-right activists, to vilify and
stigmatize trans and non-binary people. _

Nex Benedict, 16-year-old Oklahoma non-binary sophomore who died Feb.
8 after being attacked in high school bathroom., (GoFundMe/Benedict
Family)

 

Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old Oklahoma sophomore, died on February 8.
Nex, who was non-binary, was attacked in an Owasso High School
bathroom the previous day, sustaining serious head injuries. Nex's
grandmother and legal guardian, Sue Benedict, said, "Nex did not see
themselves as male or female," and they were supported at home. But,
according to Benedict, Nex had been bullied at school due to their
gender identity since early 2023
[[link removed]].
“I said, ‘You’ve got to be strong and look the other way because
these people don’t know who you are,’” Benedict told The
Independent, "I didn’t know how bad it had gotten."

Benedict was called to the school on February 7, the day of the
attack, and found "Nex badly beaten with bruises over their face and
eyes, and with scratches on the back of their head." Notably, Owasso
High School officials did not report the assault to the police or call
an ambulance. Instead, the school suspended Nex for two weeks
[[link removed]],
according to Benedict. 

Benedict then took Nex to Bailey Medical Center, a hospital in Owasso,
for treatment. The police were only informed when Benedict called them
from the hospital to report the incident. Popular Information obtained
a record of the call from the Owasso Police Department.

In a statement to Popular Information, the Owasso Police said that Nex
"had been involved in a physical altercation at the High School prior
to the end of school that day." The statement confirmed that "no
report of the fight was made to Owasso Police prior to the
notification at the hospital." A School Resource Officer was
dispatched to the hospital to collect information. 

Later that night, Nex was discharged. Benedict said
[[link removed]],
"Nex went to bed with a sore head and eventually fell asleep while
listening to music." The next day, while preparing to leave the house
for an appointment, "they collapsed in the family living room." When
the ambulance arrived, EMTs found that Nex had stopped breathing. Nex
was declared dead at the hospital. 

According to the Owasso Police, there is a "thorough investigation" to
determine "if this latest medical incident is related to the previous
incident or not." Police are declining to provide any additional
information until an autopsy and toxicology report are completed. That
process could take several weeks. 

In response to a request for comment, the Owasso Public Schools
defended their conduct in the hours that preceded Nex's death. The
school district emphasized that the altercation in the restroom lasted
"for less than two (2) minutes," and afterward, "all students involved
in the altercation walked under their own power to the assistant
principal’s office and nurse’s office." According to the school
district, Nex and the other students were "given a health assessment
by a district registered nurse," and it was determined that "ambulance
service was not required." Filing a police report, the school district
claimed, was the responsibility of Nex's guardian. The school district
did not directly confirm that Nex had been suspended, but noted that
punishment for being involved in a physical altercation "can include
out of school suspension for first offense." 

At present, there are no definitive answers as to why Nex was
assaulted or the cause of Nex's death. But we do know that the attack
occurred amid a concerted effort in Oklahoma, led by powerful state
officials and far-right activists, to vilify and stigmatize trans and
non-binary people. 

OKLAHOMA'S TOP EDUCATION OFFICIAL TARGETS TRANS AND NON-BINARY YOUTH

Oklahoma’s top education official, Superintendent Ryan Walters (R),
has instituted a number of policies targeting trans and LGBTQ+
students. “We’re not going to tolerate the woke Olympics in our
schools, left-wing ideologues trying to push in this radical gender
theory,” Walters said
[[link removed]] last
month. “It is the most radical concept we’ve ever come across in
K-12 education, that you can be gender fluid (or) change your gender
constantly.”

In December 2023, Walters announced
[[link removed]] an
emergency rule prohibiting “school districts and local schools from
altering sex or gender designations in past student records,” even
with parental consent, without prior approval from the state. The move
came after the Oklahoma State Board of Education learned
[[link removed]] that
a teenager “had obtained a court order to update his gender to male
on all of his official records.” The Board ultimately rejected the
teenager’s request, as well as that of another student, to update
their school records. One of the teenagers and their mother “are now
suing Walters and the rest of the board, arguing that the new rule is
discriminatory and violated the family’s due process rights as well
as a parents’ rights law,” NBC News reported
[[link removed]]. 

In March, Walters also introduced
[[link removed]] a
rule requiring that “school staff notify parents and guardians of
any changes to a student’s gender identity.” The rule, which was
approved despite pushback from the state’s attorney general, forces
schools to out students who may have unsupportive
homelives, according to the ACLU of Oklahoma
[[link removed]].
Walters has also warned textbook publishers
[[link removed]] that
the state will not approve textbooks that acknowledge trans and
non-binary identities, stating that Oklahoma’s classrooms “reject
the inclusion of radical gender ideology into the classroom
environment.”

Walters is not the only Oklahoma official elected official targeting
LGBTQ people. According to a report by the ACLU
[[link removed]],
members of the Oklahoma legislature have introduced 54 anti-LGBTQ
bills in 2024, the most of any state. 

The Daily Oklahoman reports
[[link removed]] that
Walters is “waiting to learn more from police” about Nex’s
death. “The safety and security of our students is my top priority,
as well as the first responsibility of Oklahoma schools,” Walters
told the outlet. 

WALTERS APPOINTS ANTI-LGBTQ EXTREMIST TO STATE BOARD

Walters has also enlisted the help of right-wing extremist Chaya
Raichik. Raichik runs the X account Libs of TikTok, which routinely
promotes anti-LGBTQ rhetoric to its 2.8 million followers. Raichik’s
posts have, on numerous occasions, inspired violent threats
[[link removed]],
including bomb threats to schools and children’s hospitals across
the country. 

In January, Walters appointed Raichik
[[link removed]] to serve on
the Oklahoma Library Media Advisory Committee. According to the
Oklahoma State Department of Education, the committee is “a
volunteer advisory board appointed by Walters
[[link removed]]”
that is in charge of “removing pornographic or sexualized content
from public schools.” The Department of Education stated that the
committee “is made up of parents, current or retired librarians and
English literature teachers.” Raichik, however, is none of these
things [[link removed]]. She
does not have a professional background in education and has never
worked as a librarian. She is a former real estate agent based in New
York
[[link removed]],
and does not even live in Oklahoma. 

In a statement about the appointment, Walters praised Raichik, saying
[[link removed]],
“[h]er unique perspective is invaluable as part of my plan to make
Oklahoma schools safer for kids and friendly to parents. Chaya has a
much-needed and powerful voice as well as a tremendous platform that
will benefit Oklahoma students and their families.” Walters stated
that he is “proud to have her on our team.”

Raichik’s appointment came after she repeatedly targeted students
and teachers in Oklahoma. In April 2022, Raichik singled out Tyler
Wrynn, a teacher from the Owasso School District — the same district
that Nex attended — for supporting LGBTQ+ students. On Libs of
TikTok, Raichik shared a video, in which Wrynn says
[[link removed]],
“If your parents don’t accept you for who you are, f—k them.”
Raichik's posting resulted in Wrynn being harassed and smeared as a
"predator" by a Republican politician. According to The Independent,
Benedict stated that Nex “was very angry about
[[link removed]]”
the situation.

Last year, two school districts in Oklahoma were also targeted by bomb
threats after Raichik posted about them on Libs of TikTok. One of the
districts, Union Public Schools, “received bomb threats for six
consecutive days” after Libs of TikTok posted a video involving one
of the district’s librarians, according to NBC News
[[link removed]].

The satirical video, which was originally posted by the librarian,
contained the text, “POV: teachers in your state are dropping like
flies but you are still just not quite finished pushing your woke
agenda at the public school.” The video caption read, “My radical
liberal agenda is teaching kids to love books and be kind,” but
Raichik omitted
[[link removed]] the caption
when posting the video to Libs of TikTok. The post was promoted by
Walters, who added
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“[w]oke ideology is real and I am here to stop it.” According
to Rolling Stone
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the school began receiving threats the same morning as Walters’
post.

In September 2023, Libs of TikTok repeatedly targeted an Oklahoman
elementary school principal, Shane Murnan, for performing as a drag
queen in his free time. Walters then called
[[link removed]] for the principal to be
fired. In the aftermath of Raichik's post, Murnan and other staffers
at the school received multiple bomb threats. Due to security
concerns, the principal had to “move homes” and was asked by the
district “not to come in during school hours,” The Washington
Post reported
[[link removed]].
Meanwhile, Walters praised
[[link removed]] Raichik
on X for doing “more for transparency and accountability in schools
than most elected officeholders.” 

In January, Murnan was ordered to resign or face termination due to
the continued
[[link removed]] “hate
mail and threats” to the district as well as the “expense
of extra security
[[link removed]].”
On X, Walters celebrated
[[link removed]] this
news as a “big win” and credited
[[link removed]] Raichik
and Libs of TikTok for uncovering the story. 

A study
[[link removed]] by
NBC News found that since November 2020, there have been “33
instances… when people or institutions singled out by Libs of TikTok
later reported bomb threats or other violent intimidation.” The
threats usually “came several days after tweets from Libs of
TikTok” and “targeted schools, libraries, hospitals, small
businesses and elected officials.” Raichik posted about the NBC News
article on X, stating
[[link removed]] that
the “‘b*mb threat’ narrative is really getting old” with a
“yawning-face emoji
[[link removed]].”
Raichik’s profile picture on her personal X account
[[link removed]] is her smiling widely with
a copy of a USA Today headline that states, “When Libs of TikTok
posts, threats increasingly follow.” 

On X, Raichik painted herself as a victim. “The media is blaming me
for a nonbinary student being k*lled at school because 2 ye

ars ago I happened to post a tiktok from a teacher in that school,”
Raichik posted
[[link removed]].
(Raichik also misgendered Nex in the post.)

“They don’t want me to be able to defend myself, they don’t want
me to be able to talk about certain topics. They want me to stop
exposing the sexualization of kids and just take all their abuse. They
want me silenced for sharing tiktoks,” Raichik posted
[[link removed]] yesterday. 

_You can find additional resources and support regarding LGBTQ+ topics
at thetrevorproject.org [[link removed]] or by
calling The Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386._

_Judd Legum  is the founder and author of Popular Information, an
independent newsletter dedicated to accountability journalism. You can
reach him at [email protected].  Tesnim Zekeria does research @
Popular Information. Email him at [email protected]. Twitter:
@tesszeeks.  Rebecca Crosvby is a Research Assistant at Popular
Information. Reach her at [email protected] _

* LBGTQ attacks
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* Oklahoma
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* Right-Wing Extremism
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