Oklahoma school superintendent claims nonbinary student's death is being 'exploited by radical leftists' - and defiantly states 'there are two genders - that's how God created us'

Oklahoma will ‘never back down to a woke mob’ the state’s head of schools has insisted last night  amid fury over the death of a trans student after a bathroom fight.

School superintendent Ryan Walters blamed ‘radical leftists’ for the backlash surrounding Nex Benedict, 16, who died a day after a fight with three girls at Owasso High School earlier this month.

Benedict’s family claims the nonbinary teen who used they/them pronouns had been bullied for months since the state insisted students could only use bathrooms reserved for their biological sex.

But Walters accused campaigners of exploiting the child’s death, adding: ‘There’s not multiple genders. There’s two. That’s how God created us.

‘I really see there’s a civil war going on, where the left is really fighting for the soul of our country,’ he added.

‘They are undermining 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, prior to Nex getting discharged. Nex, 16, died on 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 as she was interviewed by officers in hospital on February 7: 'I got jumped at school’ she said 'They said something like 'why do they laugh like that,' and they were talking about us, in front of us'

Now messages Nex sent to a family member after the fight, shared by Fox23, reveal that the teenager 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 in hospital on February 7.

'I got jumped at school,’ she said.

'They said something like 'why do they laugh like that,' 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 at me.'

Nex was released from hospital but readmitted the following day after she began losing consciousness.

A preliminary autopsy did not conclude that the fight caused her death but the full post-mortem has yet to take place.

Oklahoma state senator Tom Woods sparked fury after referring to trans people as ‘filth’ as he was questioned about the death on Friday.

Insisting 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 it 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 candlelit 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 paying tribute 

State senator Tom Woods sparked fury after referring to trans people as ‘filth’ as he was questioned about the death on Friday

Oklahoma has vigorously cracked down on LGBT rights and currently has more than 40 bills on the issue passing through the state legislature including 14 aimed at changing school policies.

It has banned gender-transition care for minors and the use of gender-neutral markers 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 state agencies from displaying flags or symbols in support of gay and transgender people.

‘You always treat individuals with dignity or respect, because they’re made in God’s image,’ Walters told the New York Times.

‘But that doesn’t change truth.

‘I think it’s terrible that we’ve had some radical leftists who decided to run with a political agenda and try to weave a narrative that hasn’t been true,’ he added.

‘You’ve taken a tragedy, and you’ve had some folks try to exploit it for political gain.’

Walters, 38, has kept a high profile since winning election as schools’ superintendent in 2022 after a stint as Governor Kevin Stitt’s secretary of education.

The former history teacher demanded the firing of elementary school principal Shane Murnan last year after it was revealed that he performed as a drag artist and read stories to children at local libraries while in 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 the kid is more susceptible to the most radical Marxist gender ideology we've ever seen to pit groups of people against each other,’ he said.

‘And frankly, it's to create Democrat voters.

‘This woke war on our kids has to stop. We will not allow it in Oklahoma. This is the liberal insanity 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 place on the Oklahoma Library Media Advisory Committee despite her only having visited the state once.

‘I really see there’s a civil war going on, where the left is really fighting for the soul of our country,’ Walters said

Walters demanded Western Heights School District rescind its appointment of Shane Murnan as an elementary school principal last year after it emerged he read children 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, describing adults who teach children about LGBT identities ‘abusive’, and 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 the death of Bex.

‘They have intentionally 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.’