Today GLAAD is responding to news that no charges will be filed in the case of Nex Benedict.
Statement from Sarah Kate Ellis, President & CEO of GLAAD
“Time and time again, leaders in Oklahoma have showed that they don’t value Nex’s life, or the lives of other Indigenous and 2STGNC+ (Two Spirit, transgender, gender-noncoforming+) students. Everyone from Superintendent Walters and Owasso High School to the unaccredited-since-2009 state Medical Examiner’s Office, the District Attorney, and Owasso Police Department have failed Nex Benedict and failed us all. It is critical that an independent investigation is completed and the truth about what happened to Nex, and what all marginalized youth in Oklahoma schools endure, is brought to light. We will never stop seeking justice for Nex and we will never stop holding leaders accountable to serving their communities fairly and with compassion.”
Tulsa District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler’s decision and statement contains multiple errors of fact and judgment.
These errors continue to fail Nex Benedict, Nex’s loved ones, and all in Oklahoma who value justice, safety and human life:
Kunzweiler uses Nex’s deadname, a practice that is harmful and completely unnecessary. Using a person’s discarded name without permission is disrespectful and undermines their authentic identity, endangering all transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming people.
Kunzweiler repeats incomplete and premature information about Nex’s cause of death. The full autopsy report is not due out until next week. The cause of death is also not a reason to not hold perpetrators accountable for violent behavior including beating Nex unconscious in a public school bathroom and causing Nex to be sent to the hospital.
Kunzweiler’s statement is based on incomplete information from the Owasso Police Department, who said they still had other people to interview. Owasso police have made a habit of selectively releasing information to “head off” national scrutiny in this case, and have admitted coordinating with the school to defend both institutions’ abysmal lack of response to the bullying, beating and death of Nex. Kunzweiler continues this harmful pattern of rushing out information without completing the investigation.
Kunzweiler spreads an incomplete misinterpretation of Nex’s injuries from the unaccredited-for-the-last-15 years medical examiner’s office. Nex’s family released a statement last week that read in part: “Rather than allow incomplete accounts to take hold and spread any further, the Benedicts feel compelled to provide a summary of those findings which have not yet been released by the Medical Examiner’s office, particularly those that contradict allegations of the assault on Nex being insignificant. As outlined in the full report, the Medical Examiner found numerous areas of physical trauma over Nex’s body that evidence the severity of the assault.”
In a particularly grotesque and ghoulish passage, Kunzweiler describes a note it says Nex wrote before their death. This shameful violation of Nex’s privacy and Nex’s family’s privacy, used to justify Kunzweiler’s lack of action, is wholly inappropriate. It is not Kunzweiler’s or any public official’s place to ever use a note like this to justify not taking action against the people who perpetrate violence and assault.
Kunzweiler falsely describes the school bathroom fight as “mutual combat.” It is obviously not “mutual” when one person is outnumbered and beaten unconscious.
In perhaps the most dangerous paragraph, Kunzweiler expounds how “some fights may be justified” and “some fights may not be justified” – opinions that are baseless but not meaningless. These opinions expose the distorted motivations of a public official who is failing to prioritize safety and the rule of law, especially for vulnerable youth. Language like this sends a harmful, devastating message to youth who are already crying out for help against physical, verbal and legislative harassment and facing a quadrupling of hate crimes against them at school. These messages and insinuations can, and likely will, be wrongfully seen as justification for further exclusion, violence and harm. Nex, in Nex’s own words, faced bullying for a year before this violent attack and was singled out for their appearance. Nex was a 16-year-old 2STGNC+ (two spirit, transgender, gender nonconforming+) youth of Choctaw descent, making them especially vulnerable to discrimination. None of this makes their attack “justified.”
To be perfectly clear: violence, fights, bullying and harassment are never justified.
Oklahomans deserve public officials who can articulate these values, pursue those who violate them, and enforce laws and policies meant to protect all, especially the most vulnerable in our communities.
Anyone needing support at this time should dial 988 or call Rainbow Youth Project (317) 643-4888.