Bisexual Comedian Eric Andre Says He Was “Racially Profiled” At The Atlanta Airport By Two Plainclothes Police Officers
Bisexual comedian Eric Andre says he was “racially profiled” at the Atlanta Airport by two ununiformed police officers.
The comedian tweeted that the officers stopped him as he was about to board a flight from the Delta Terminal at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, adding that he was the only person of color in the line.
“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,” Andre tweeted.
In a follow-up tweet, Andre said while the police let him board the plane and he was "fine now," he wanted to report the incident.
Andre also tweeted at the Mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Bottoms, on Wednesday asking for help.
Bottoms responded to Andre right away, writing that she was “sorry” to hear about his experience and was working to find out which agency was involved.
Although Andre initially speculated that he might have been stopped by officers from the Atlanta Police Department (APD) or the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the police department of Clayton County, where the airport is located, confirmed its officers were the ones who had interacted with Andre at the airport.
According to ‘Insider’ a preliminary statement from Clayton County Police Department shared on social media on Wednesday added that the DEA and the APD were not involved in what they described as a “consensual encounter.”
In its own separate statement, APD said that “multiple law enforcement agencies” operate within the airport.
“Members of APD's Airport Drug Interdiction Unit do not randomly approach travelers and ask to search them,” the statement read.
“Searches are conducted based on some type of evidence or indication of criminal activity,” it added.
In a longer statement shared with Insider via email on Thursday, a representative for the Clayton County Police Department said that the whole exchange between Andre and the officers “lasted for approximately 2 to 3 minutes, and he was able to make his normally scheduled flight on time.”
The statement said that Andre (who they described as “cordial, personable and pleasant to speak with”) had consented to have his luggage searched and shared his travel plans with the officers, who ultimately chose not to go through the bags.
“I would like to reiterate that Mr. Andre was never placed in handcuffs or detained at any point during their interaction,” the statement said, in part.
“Our preliminary findings have revealed that Mr. Andre was not racially profiled,” it continued.
Andre tweeted that it was “misinformation” that he had consented to have his bags searched, in response to the earlier version of the statement shared on the Clayton County PD's Facebook page on Wednesday, adding that the police department “violated my rights.”
"I really hope that the @ClaytonCountyPD stop their racial profiling tactics at @ATLairport. I wish they owned up to it instead of creating more lies about what happened, Andre tweeted. “They're not creating a safer environment - just using the War on Drugs as an excuse to harass and oppress POC.”
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