Eric Andre Says He Was Racially Profiled at Atlanta Airport
"They stopped me on the way down the bridge to the plane for a "random" search and asked [if] they could search me for drugs," the comedian wrote on Twitter.
Eric Andre said that he was racially profiled at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.
The comedian and Bad Trip star detailed his experience on Twitter Wednesday morning, adding that he was looking to file a complaint. "I was just racially profiled by two plain clothes Atlanta PD police in @Delta terminal T3 at the Atlanta airport," Andre wrote in a tweet directed at the Atlanta Police Department.
"They stopped me on the way down the bridge to the plane for a 'random' search and asked [if] they could search me for drugs. I told them no. Be careful."
Andre said that he was eventually let go and was able to board his plane, although he claimed that he was the only nonwhite person in line at the time of his search. Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms responded: "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."
Eventually, it was confirmed that the search was conducted by the Clayton County Police Department, who issued a statement saying that Andre had volunteered to the search. Andre denied that he volunteered for any search, saying his rights had been "violated."
"They're not creating a safer environment," Andre added. "Just using the War on Drugs as an excuse to harass and oppress POC."
See the Tweets detailing the encounter below.
Andre further discussed the experience during his Thursday appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. "I was the only Black person on the jet bridge, and they stopped me, undid my whole backpack," he said. "They're doing, like, '90s-era Manhattan stop-and-frisk to every Black and Brown person." Watch that interview below.