In the wake of four middle school girls in a New York school district being forced to undergo a strip search, the community is leading a demonstration to protest against the administration's policies.
Dozens of people stood outside East Middle School Tuesday to rally against the Binghamton City School District after the four girls were allegedly strip searched. The district continues to deny the allegations.https://t.co/fJX87z6Eh4
pic.twitter.com/Tz1Tk0fImh— Tyler Brown (@tbrownwbng) January 30, 2019
As Blavity previously reported, school authorities were convinced four girls were under the influence at East Middle School on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Administrators forced the teenagers to undress during school hours and participate in a search. Their reasoning behind the frisk was the girls appeared "hyper and giddy during their lunch hour." So far, the school has not confirmed if the students were carrying drugs.
On Tuesday, approximately 200 individuals gathered outside East Middle to call on district officials to change their stance behind what constitutes a strip search.
According to WKSG in New York, city council members and worship leaders were also in attendance. Councilmembers Dan Livingston and Conrad Taylor along with Reverend Michael Bell, pastor of the Frederick Douglass Memorial AME Zion Church in Elmira, New York, joined the crowd in solidarity with the four students.
"We've been fighting this for a long time. We've been on this battlefield a long time, but we’re not done. Ain't nobody gonna turn me around," Reverend Bell's remarks enthusiastically rang out during the rally.
In the meantime, advocates communicating with the female students are saying they might have supporting evidence to begin legal proceedings.
"There is no justification imaginable for the way they were treated and for the harm that the school officials have done to them, the disruption to their education, and the lasting trauma of being subjected to such an indignity that in a place that is supposed to be safe and nurturing," Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said to The Daily Beast.
In a public statement released on Wednesday, board members of the Binghamton School District stood by their justification for the search and refuted claims any of the girls inspected that day were suspended.
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