ATLANTA – An actor and comedian took to Twitter on Wednesday to say he had a racial profile while traveling through Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Eric Andre said he was “racially profiled by two plainclothes police in Atlanta, at the Delta T3 terminal at Atlanta airport. They stopped me as I was walking down the bridge to the plane for a “random” search and asked me to look for drugs. I told them no. ”
Andre also tagged Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in tweets.
She responded, saying, “I’m sorry to hear about your experience. I understand that it was not APD, but another of the many agencies working at the airport. We are working to confirm. “
Atlanta police also issued a statement saying:
“The Atlanta Police Department became aware of Mr. Andre’s social media posts before the news contacted us. As soon as we learned of Mr. Andre’s complaint, we began to gather information about what had happened. We determined that the Atlanta Police Department was not involved in this interaction. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is somewhat unique in that there are several law enforcement agencies. It appears that this incident involved members of another agency. In addition, members of APD’s Airport Interdiction Unit do not randomly approach passengers and ask to look for them. Searches are carried out on the basis of a certain type of evidence or indication of criminal activity. ”
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Andre later wrote on Twitter that he thought it could have been US Drug Enforcement Agency agents who stopped him, but the DEA confirmed that Channel 2 Action News that the agency had nothing to do with the incident.
A spokesman for the airport said in a statement Channel 2 that members of the Clayton County Drug Task Force stopped Andre.
“Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is served by several law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, county and local levels. Coordination and collaboration are vital and we work with all agencies to ensure safe travel. After learning of Mr. Andre’s tweet this afternoon, I determined that the incident involved officers from the Clayton County Drug Task Force. The task force operates separately from the Drug Prohibition Unit at Atlanta Police Airport. ATL and APD officials are scheduled to meet next week with law enforcement officers in Clayton County to review the procedures. ”
Channel 2 contacted Clayton County police. They sent a statement Wednesday night, saying:
“On April 21, 2021, the Clayton County Police Department had a consensual meeting with a male passenger, later identified as Eric Andre, as he was preparing to fly to California from Atlanta Airport. Mr Andre chose to speak to investigators during the initial meeting. During the meeting, Mr Andre voluntarily provided investigators with information about his travel plans. Mr Andre also voluntarily consented to the search of his luggage, but investigators chose not to do so. Investigators identified that there was no reason to continue the conversation and therefore closed the meeting. Mr. Andre boarded the plane without being detained and continued his travels. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Atlanta Police Department did not attend this consensual meeting. ”