An Oklahoma high school student was beaten by peers and subsequently died earlier this month.

Now, many online are saying that their death is emblematic of transphobic rhetoric promulgated by the state’s Secretary of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters, who oversees the state’s Department of Education.

Chaya Raichik, who runs the controversial @LibsOfTikTok X account, is also being blamed.

Raichik was appointed to the State Department of Education’s Library Media Advisory Committee in January by Walters.

On Feb. 7, Nex Benedict was beaten by three older, female peers at Owasso High School, where Benedict was a sophomore. A teacher broke up the altercation, but school authorities did not call an ambulance for Benedict. They did, however, go to the hospital that day and were later released.

Benedict died after a second trip to the hospital the next day. They were non-binary.

Many are positing that Benedict’s death was the result of a hate crime motivated, they say in part, by the anti-trans rhetoric Walters peddled as the head of the state’s top official in charge of education.

    • teft
      link
      191 year ago

      Wow, you weren’t kidding. That’s one toxic comment/post history they’ve got.

      • @Zombiepirate
        link
        English
        10
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Oh, for sure; it must be like catnip for regressive reactionaries.

      • @Zombiepirate
        link
        English
        23
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        I posted here first, genius.

        Believe it or not I can… remember things. Like user names.

      • Flying Squid
        link
        71 year ago

        I notice you responded to @Zombiepirate but not to me, even though I asked you a question.

        Did you mean that she is unqualified for the job that she has been hired for and thus should be investigated? Also, if not, what are her qualifications?

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        61 year ago

        Crazy thing. You don’t have to put any effort into “following people around”. Just click a person’s username and you can scroll right through their comment history to get an idea what you’re dealing with.