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American comedians Eric Andre and Clayton English are suing the police authorities at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for racially profiling them and stopping them for a "random" search.
On October 11, lawyers for the comedians filed a lawsuit in Atlanta’s federal court after the duo claimed to have been illegally stopped by Clayton County authorities at the airport on different occasions within a period of six months.
The Associated Press reports that the complaint challenges Clayton County authorities for allegedly violating Black airline passengers' constitutional rights by questioning them and subjecting them to forced searches as they board their planes.
In an interview with the outlet, the 39-year-old stated that he and Clayton were picked by the officers to check if they had drugs on them, and claimed in the lawsuit that substances are hardly found during these bridge stops.
He said:
“People were gawking at me and I looked suspicious when I had done nothing wrong.”
Calling the incident "demoralizing and dehumanizing," Eric Andre stated in his lawsuit that the Clayton County cops purposely filtered out passengers while they waited on jet bridges before boarding their flight. He was stopped and selected for interrogation while being asked to show his ID and boarding pass.
The Clayton County police claim that Eric Andre's search was "consensual"
As per the lawsuit, the incident took place when Eric Andre was returning to Los Angeles from Charleston, South Carolina, on April 21, 2020, after finishing the shoot of HBO's The Righteous Gemstones. He was traveling through Atlanta, where he was halted for interrogation.
According to the Associated Press, the comedian immediately reported the matter to the authorities, but the Clayton County police claimed in a Facebook post that the check was "consensual."
They wrote:
“Mr. Andre chose to speak with investigators during the initial encounter. During the encounter, Mr. Andre voluntarily provided the investigators information as to his travel plans. Mr. Andre also voluntarily consented to a search of his luggage but the investigators chose not to do so.”
While speaking to the publication about the lawsuit, Eric Andre said:
“I have the resources to bring national attention and international attention to this incident. It’s not an isolated incident. If Black people don’t speak up for each other, who will?”
This is not the first time that Eric Andre has spoken about his experience at the Atlanta airport. After the incident took place in April 2021, the comedian took to his Twitter handle to narrate the incident where authorities asked him if they could search him for drugs, but he refused.
Barry Friedman, one of the attorneys who filed the suit and the New York University School of Law Policing Project co-founder, also urged others to get in touch with him if they have had similar experiences at the Atlanta airport.
