Comedian Eric Andre took to Twitter Wednesday following an incident of alleged racial profiling by law enforcement at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
In a series of tweets, Andre alleged that he had been stopped by officers and asked to participate in a random drug search. Andre said he was the only person of color in line at the time of the incident.
“I went through TSA, went through my ticketing process, on the way to the plane… to agents whipping out a badge,” Andre explained.
“And they were like can we search your bag and I was like no…no you can’t that’s against the constitution,” Andre added.
Andre also reached out to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance-Bottoms believing that the Atlanta Police Department may have been responsible for the incident; however, APD confirmed that their officers were not involved, a statement confirmed by Mayor Bottoms.
“Mr. Andre did give our officers consent to search his belongings …but instead the officers choose to do so because they made the determination that the interaction did not warrant any further inquiry,” Public Information Officer Aubriel Stroud said.
“Sorry to hear about your experience. It’s my understanding that this was not APD, but another one of the many agencies working in the airport. We are working to confirm,” tweeted Mayor Bottoms.
The APD’s official statement on the incident read:
“The Atlanta Police Department became aware of Mr. Andre’s social media posts, prior to news media reaching out to us. As soon as we learned of Mr. Andre’s complaint, we began gathering information on what occurred. We have determined the Atlanta Police Department was not involved in this interaction. The Atlanta Airport is somewhat unique in that multiple law enforcement agencies operate there. It appears this incident involved members of another agency. Additionally, members of APD’s Airport Drug Interdiction Unit do not randomly approach travelers and ask to search them. Searches are conducted based on some type of evidence or indication of criminal activity.”
Andre noted that he had come to believe it may have been the DEA that attempted to conduct the search, and that he was working to reach a local lawyer to help him following the incident.
It was later confirmed that Clayton County Police was the agency Andre encountered, an encounter the department says was consensual. Clayton Police approached Andre as he was preparing to fly to California, at which point they said he chose to speak with investigators and voluntarily provided them with information on his travel plans.Police also claimed that Andre voluntarily consented to a search of his luggage, but noted that investigators chose not to carry out the search before leaving. Clayton Police confirmed that the DEA and APD did not assist in the encounter.Atlanta traveler Rich Benjamin calling what took place outrageous. “This is the type of stuff Black Americans go through every day but by him being a person that’s well-known… more of a famous person that’s more public– this happens to all people, being racially profiled in every city in every airport,” said Benjamin.
“Reprimand the police that are clearly racially profiling…it’s like guys the most hard-core drugs I have in my bag Are Propecia,” said Andre.
Andrew C. Gobeil, a spokesperson with the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, released the following statement:
“Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is served by multiple law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, county, and local level. Coordination and collaboration are vital, and we work with all agencies to ensure safe and secure travel. After learning of Mr. Andre’s tweet this afternoon, we determined that the incident involved officers from the Clayton County Drug Task force. The task force operates separately from the Atlanta Police Airport Drug Interdiction Unit. Officials from ATL and APD are scheduled to meet with Clayton County law enforcement officers next week to review procedures.”
@Atlanta_Police “I was just racially profiled by two plain clothes Atlanta PD police in @Delta terminal T3 at the Atlanta airport. They stopped me on the way down the bridge to the plane for a “random” search and asked they could search me for drugs. I told them no. Be careful.
— Eric Andre (@ericandre) April 21, 2021
Clayton County Police issued this statement on the matter:
The Clayton County Police Department had such an encounter with Mr. Eric Andre, as he was preparing to fly to California from the Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. This type of interaction occurs frequently during our officers’ course of duties, and is supported by Georgia Law and the U.S. Constitution. I would like to clearly state that, Mr. Andre was never detained by our officers. Preliminary findings have revealed that Mr. Andre agreed to speak with our officers, and the conversation was pleasant. Mr. Andre provided the officers with information regarding his reasons for travel. During the course of their conversation; Mr. Andre was asked if he would consent to a search of his belongings. Mr. Andre did give our officers consent to search his belongings, but instead, the officers chose not to do so, because they made the determination that the interaction did not warrant further inquiry. At the conclusion of the encounter, pleasantries were exchanged between our officers and Mr. Andre, and Mr. Andre continued on his way. The interaction between Mr. Andre and our officers lasted for approximately 2 to 3 minutes, and he was able to make his normally scheduled flight on time. I would like to reiterate that Mr. Andre was never placed in handcuffs or detained at any point during their interaction. I also, want to share that the Clayton County Police Departments Standard Operating Procedures prohibits selection of individuals based solely on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, economic status, age, cultural group, or any other identifiable groups in which a person belongs. Our preliminary findings have revealed that Mr. Andre was not racially profiled. Our inquiries have revealed that Mr. Andre was cordial, personable and pleasant to speak with. According to 2 our records this was the first and only interaction between the Clayton County Police Department and Mr. Andre.
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