In Video, Nonbinary Scholar Describes Combat in Oklahoma Faculty Rest room

An altercation at an Oklahoma public college involving a 16-year-old nonbinary scholar who died the following day started after the coed “poured water” on ladies who had been making enjoyable of {the teenager}, in keeping with a physique digital camera video interview launched by the Owasso Police Division late Friday.

The video of the 16-year-old student, Nex Benedict, speaking to an Owasso officer offered the fullest account but of what passed off inside the women’ toilet on Feb. 7. The altercation drew nationwide scrutiny after homosexual and transgender rights teams centered consideration on Nex’s dying for instance of the risks confronted by gender-nonconforming college students.

The interview, which lasted about 20 minutes and passed off at an area hospital, offered new particulars of the confrontation on the West Campus of Owasso Excessive Faculty. Nex, who used they and them pronouns with friends, described how they “blacked out” whereas being crushed on the ground of the lavatory by three ladies who had beforehand mocked Nex and their buddies “because of the way that we dress.”

“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 mentioned.

The division additionally launched surveillance video from inside the college exhibiting college students, together with Nex, entering the bathroom and, individually, Nex strolling through the halls with a staff member after the confrontation.

And the division offered audio of the 911 calls made by Sue Benedict, Nex’s grandmother and guardian, on the day of the altercation after which on Feb. 8 as she urgently sought an ambulance for Nex.

Ms. Benedict informed the dispatcher round 1 p.m. that Nex saved saying they’d a headache and Ms. Benedict was not sure if it was from Nex’s head damage. Nex hit their head on the lavatory flooring, Ms. Benedict mentioned, describing the altercation yesterday.

Ms. Benedict informed the dispatcher that Nex took medicine at night time for anxiousness and “mood swings” however that Nex had not taken any that day. Requested whether or not Nex took illicit medication, Ms. Benedict mentioned no, although Nex “has vaped.”

The movies, whereas offering extra data, didn’t reply the query of how Nex died. The police division has mentioned that the dying remains to be below investigation however that preliminary outcomes of an post-mortem discovered Nex “did not die as a result of trauma.” The state health worker’s workplace mentioned its report on the post-mortem and toxicology outcomes can be made public when it was prepared.

The dying of a nonbinary scholar following an altercation in school prompted renewed scrutiny of Oklahoma’s restrictive insurance policies for L.G.B.T.Q. college students — together with new legal guidelines concerning toilet utilization and barring gender-transition take care of minors. The state superintendent of colleges, Ryan Walters, who has been criticized for his anti-transgender rhetoric, mentioned the dying was a tragedy but did not alter his views, together with on toilet utilization or discussions of gender.

Rights teams and transgender college students have mentioned the political rhetoric by Oklahoma leaders within the Republican-dominated state has been considered by some college students as permission to harass and bully their classmates.

Of their interview with the officer, Nex spoke from a mattress at Bailey Medical Heart in Owasso, with Ms. Benedict sitting close by.

Ms. Benedict informed the officer that the women wouldn’t go away Nex alone. “They’re making comments, they’re throwing stuff, they’re calling us names,” Ms. Benedict mentioned, recounting what Nex had informed her.

The officer then requested Nex to explain what occurred. Nex mentioned that whereas they’d informed their household concerning the earlier bullying, they’d not reported it to high school officers. “I didn’t really see the point in it,” Nex mentioned.

Nex mentioned that different college students had centered on Nex and their buddies due to their manner of dressing. The subject of Nex’s gender id or that of their buddies didn’t come up within the interview. Ms. Benedict referred to Nex utilizing their delivery identify and pronouns through the police interview and in calls with 911.

Simply earlier than the altercation, Nex had been speaking with buddies inside the lavatory, whereas the women had been speaking with their very own buddies close by, Nex mentioned.

Throughout the altercation, “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,” Nex mentioned. “My friends tried to jump in and help, but I’m not sure, I blacked out.”

The officer recommended to Nex and Ms. Benedict that felony prices won’t be clever to pursue as a result of Nex was “the one who started it by throwing an object or an item onto another individual.”

That truth “does not give them the right to put their hands on you,” the officer mentioned. “It’s just, I hate to see you both, criminally wise, get hung up on something so minuscule. But I am here to do that if that’s what you like.” Ms. Benedict and Nex in the end agreed to not pursue prices at the moment.