An Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s preliminary toxicology report on the death last month of teenager Dagny-Nex Benedict has been released. For weeks, the teen’s demise had become the focus of LGBT𝜋 activists, intent on making the youth into a martyr for their cause. This was seen in the outbreak of vigils held across the country, a clear attempt to build this incident into a motivational event. But, as I had covered a few weeks ago, this call to action faced inertia as there were numerous facts emerging that derailed much of the activist outrage.

Now, more specifics have been reported, and once again, a shift in the activist narrative is taking place. As many had suspected, the toxicology report just released showed Benedict died from an overdose of combined doses of Benadryl and Prozac, in what is ruled as a suicide. 

The passing of a young person is always regarded as tragic, but that inherent misery becomes compounded when that death is transformed into a social and political cause. We see some of this emerging with the death of the Georgia co-ed Laken Riley; while the direct cause of death by an illegal is a valid concern, the broadening political points to be scored are trending to the unseemly. (An illegal who was released numerous times by authorities is the issue; making her into a campaign slogan is crossing the line.)

This activism drive has certainly been the case with the Dagny-Nex Benedict death, and the tasteless use of this event has been starker. The initial claims and charges unspooled and led to accusations being thrown wildly at school officials, state authorities, and even attempts to make Libs of TikTok culpable. The finger-pointing and bellowing charges had trouble getting traction as many of the claims became neutered by the exposure of facts, leading to shifts in the outrage. 

As the story evolved, those who refused to wait for all of the facts to come in became stalled by the arrival of those details. The claims that were countered included that Benedict had been rendered unconscious, the fight was a hate crime, and the death occurred in the hospital as a result of the attack. Then, as the specifics of the incident became apparent, we saw the talking points becoming contorted:

• The lack of Benedict blacking out was school officials changing the story

• Benedict was not knocked but sustained lasting internal injuries

• Emergency crews called to the home were responding to Benedict succumbing to internal injuries

• The first ME report showing a lack of blunt-force trauma was a cover-up by authorities.

Once it became known that a toxicology report would need to be completed to have a better idea of the cause of death, you could sense the activists adjusting their narratives. Now, with the arrival of these details, the expected new script says the suicide was compelled by sustained bullying over Benedict’s status as a member of the LGBT𝜋 community. 

I want to be crystal clear here: a trans kid was jumped in a school bathroom and beaten unconscious, and the school responded by suspending him and sending him home. Deaths of despair are not blameless. Our children deserve to believe in a future.

— Ari Drennen (@AriDrennen) March 13, 2024

Even this is met with conflicting talking points, as the desire to accuse some of trans-phobia is met with the reports that Nex self-identified as non-binary, not trans specifically. The insistence on calling Nex “him” is not only countered by the claim of being non-binary, but the police video from the initial hospital visit showed Benedict being referred to as “she” by both police and the grandmother, with no pushback or corrections, as well as being referred to as Dagny, Benedict’s birth name.

So many of the details from this conflict at the school have derailed the desired narrative. Security video showed Benedict walking in good condition immediately following the fight. During the police interview, Nex admitted to starting the fight. Nex also detailed not knowing those in the conflict which defied the sustained bullying claims. The interview had Benedict in decent spirits and not showing signs of severe physical trauma. Emergency crews were called to the home the day after the fight, indicating a possible differing influence on the condition of the student. 

Today, we learn another disqualifying detail. It is notable how little energy we are seeing from those in the press who were loudly behind the initial story. The corrections are tepid, the apologies are scant, and an admission of jumping to baseless conclusions is nowhere to be found.

Yet all the while, accusations have flown and the energy for a social conflict to emerge has seemed obvious, but it became stalled with conflicting facts. Now, we've learned that suicide was the cause of death and the narrative shifts anew. The outrage, however, remains in place.