Oklahoma will “never give in to a woke mob,” the state’s school principal insisted last night, amid anger over the death of a trans student after a bathroom fight.
School principal Ryan Walters blamed “radical leftists” for the backlash surrounding 16-year-old Nex Benedict, who died a day after a fight with three girls at Owasso High School earlier this month.
Benedict’s family claims the non-binary, pronoun-using teen was bullied for months because the state insisted students could only use bathrooms reserved for their biological gender.
But Walters accused campaigners of exploiting the child’s death, adding: ‘There are not multiple genders. There are two. This is how God created us.
“I really see that there is a civil war going on, where the left is really fighting for the soul of our country,” he added.
“They undermine the very principles that made this country great, our Judeo-Christian values and our traditions in this country.”
The 21-minute interview, conducted at Owasso Hospital just two hours after the Feb. 7 fight, details the events leading up to the altercation before Nex was fired. Nex, 16, died Feb. 8, a day after they were attacked in a restroom at Owasso Public High School
Police bodycam footage shows Nex describing the attack just two hours later, when she was interviewed by officers at the hospital on February 7: “I got jumped at school,” she said. ‘They said something like ‘why are they laughing so much,’ and they were talking about us, to us’
Messages Nex sent to a family member after the fight, shared by Fox23, now reveal the teen tried to stand up to their bullies
Police bodycam footage shows Nex describing the attack just two hours later as she was interviewed by officers at the hospital on February 7.
“I got jumped at school,” she said.
“They were like, ‘why are they laughing so much,’ and they were talking about us, in front of us,” Nex added.
“So I went up and poured water on them, and all three of them came towards me.”
Nex was released from hospital but was readmitted the next day after she began to lose consciousness.
A preliminary autopsy did not conclude that the fight caused her death, but a full autopsy has yet to take place.
Oklahoma Sen. Tom Woods sparked outrage after calling transgender people “filth” when questioned about the death on Friday.
While insisting that his “heart goes out” to the teen’s family, he told a community meeting that “I represent a constituency that doesn’t want that filth in Oklahoma.”
“We are a religious state and we are going to fight to keep that filth out of the state of Oklahoma because we are a Christian state – we are a moral state,” he continued.
Hundreds of people attended a candlelight vigil for Nex and her family in the nearby city of Tulsa on Sunday evening
Patricia Saquilo, left, and her daughter Allyson Andrade, 13, and Hadley Mayopulos, 13, were among those who paid tribute
State Senator Tom Woods sparked outrage after calling transgender people ‘filth’ when questioned about the death on Friday
Oklahoma has taken a strong stance on LGBT rights and currently has more than forty bills on the issue pending in the state legislature, including fourteen aimed at changing school policy.
It has banned gender transition care for minors and the use of gender-neutral markings on birth certificates.
One bill would require public schools to teach that gender is an “immutable biological trait” and ban the use of preferred names or pronouns.
Another would prevent government agencies from displaying flags or symbols supporting gays and transgender people.
“You always treat individuals with dignity and respect because they are made in God’s image,” Walters told the New York Times.
‘But that doesn’t change the truth.
“I think it’s terrible that we’ve had some radical leftists who decided to follow a political agenda and try to weave a narrative that hasn’t been true,” he added.
“You’ve experienced a tragedy, and some people have tried to exploit it for political gain.”
Walters, 38, has maintained a high profile since being elected school superintendent in 2022 after a stint as Gov. Kevin Stitt’s secretary of education.
The former history teacher demanded the resignation of primary school principal Shane Murnan last year after it emerged that he performed as a drag performer and read stories to children in local libraries in traditional costume.
Walters claimed that the appointment by Western Heights School District was part of the left’s “scheme” to control student values.
“This is absolutely trying to break down that family unit so that the child becomes more susceptible to the most radical Marxist gender ideology we’ve ever seen, pitting groups of people against each other,” he said.
“And frankly, it’s to create Democratic voters.
‘This vigilante war against our children must stop. We won’t allow it in Oklahoma. This is the liberal madness that every parent wants out of the classroom,” he added.
Last month, he appointed Chaya Raichik, best known for running the X account “Libs of TikTok,” to a seat on the Oklahoma Library Media Advisory Committee, despite her having visited the state only once.
“I really see that there is a civil war going on, where the left is really fighting for the soul of our country,” Walters said.
Walters last year demanded that the Western Heights School District revoke Shane Murnan’s appointment as an elementary school principal after it emerged that he was reading children’s books in libraries while dressed in drag.
Raichik, who has 2.8 million followers on the platform, has been targeted by critics for her anti-trans tweets, which call adults teaching children about LGBT identities “offensive” and describe schools as “government-run indoctrination camps ‘ for the trans community.
Last night Walters posted another defiant video online, accusing ‘radical left-wing groups in the media’ of lying about Bex’s death.
“They deliberately lied to push an agenda that was politically motivated to attack me and conservatives in the state of Oklahoma,” he explained.
“They would use any tragedy to further their political motives.”