Cuomo orders investigation into alleged strip search of 4 black middle school girls

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said he has asked the state’s Department of Education to investigate claims that four black 12-year-old girls were strip-searched at their middle school.

The girls and their parents claim they were searched earlier this month on suspicion of drug possession because officials said they were acting “giddy,” according to NBC News.

“The allegations that 12-year-old girls were strip-searched for drugs after being perceived as ‘hyper and giddy’ at a Binghamton middle school are deeply disturbing and raise serious concerns of racial and gender bias,” Cuomo said in a statement.

{mosads}The students attend East Middle School in Binghamton, New York. The city’s population is 75 percent white, NBC News reported.

“Asking a child to remove her clothing … is shaming, humiliating, traumatic sexual harassment,” Cuomo said, according to the New York Post. “In New York, we have zero tolerance for discrimination or harassment of any kind, especially in our schools, and we stand with those who are calling for clarity on this troubling incident.” 

The Binghamton City School District said it has “no evidence” that a strip search was conducted by administration, adding that it has hired a third-party firm to investigate the matter, according to the report.

“We only turn to medical assessment if we find clear reason to be concerned for our students’ safety and health, which is what occurred in this instance,” the district said.

The school said the students were not punished and returned to class after the alleged search.

NBC noted that activist group Progressive Leaders of Tomorrow held a rally outside of a school board meeting on Tuesday. The group has expressed concern that the students’ parents were not contacted before the alleged strip-search, and have said that it stands by the girls “100 percent.”

“The Binghamton City School District should never have stated ‘no students were strip-searched,’ solely due to an assumed lack of evidence — especially before the criminal, state or independent investigation has been concluded,” the group told NBC News. “The first-hand accounts of the four victims are evidence, both legally and morally.”

The school board alleged that “misinformation” about the search was disseminated on social media, according to NBC News. The board acknowledged that the students had been “evaluated,” saying that involves asking students to remove “bulky outside clothing to expose an arm so that vitals like blood pressure and pulse can be accessed.”