Eric Andre is warning other Black people to be careful out there while calling for legal help.
The 2 Broke Girls, Disenchantment, and The Eric Andre Show comedian shared on social media that he was racially profiled while trying to take a plane out of Georgia last week. In a series of tweets, Andre, who identifies as bisexual, shared that he was flying to Los Angles from the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. While walking down the bridge to the plane, and after already going through airport security, he was stopped for a “random” drug search. It was then that Andre noted that he, the “only POC” in line, was the only person being stopped. Thankfully, he was able to say no to the search and board the plane.
@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
“I was just racially profiled by two plain clothes Atlanta PD police in @Delta terminal T3 at the Atlanta airport,” Eric Andre wrote while also tagging the Atlanta Police Department. “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 then confirmed that the police let him go and board the plane. But, he tagged Atlanta mayor Keisha Bottoms and stated that he wants the incident reported.
“I’m fine now but I want this reported,” he wrote. “Please any Atlanta lawyer reach out to me.”
They let me go. I’m on the plane in the air. I’m fine now but I want this reported. Please any Atlanta lawyer reach out to me. @KeishaBottoms #racialprofiling #jimcrowgeorgia terminal T3 Atlanta airport.
— Eric Andre (@ericandre) April 21, 2021
Mayor Bottoms later responded to Eric Andre and shared that she was “sorry to hear” of the incident. She then specified that the officers who stopped Andre were not the Atlanta Police Department, “but one of the many agencies working in the airport.” Though, she added that she is looking into the incident to see who was involved.
Thanks for responding. It might be @DEAHQ looking for answers.
— Eric Andre (@ericandre) April 21, 2021
Eric Andre later talked about the moment while appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! While on the show, Andre restated the fact that he was the “only brown person” in the business class line and that the officers singled him out.
“She [one of the officers] starts interrogating me like what drugs do you have on you, are you transporting crystal meth to Los Angeles – like I’m Walter White from Breaking Bad,” Andre commented.
Andre then revealed that he found out it was the Clayton County Police Department that stopped him.
In response to his story, the Clayton County Police Department released a statement, according to People Magazine, claiming that Andre “chose to speak with investigators during the initial encounter.”
The department added, “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. Investigators identified that there was no reason to continue a conversation and therefore terminated the encounter.”
So glad to hear Atlanta PD doesn’t operate like this, but who was the agency that interrogated me and why does ATL allow an agency with those kinds of random search rules to operate in one of the busiest airports in the world? @DEAHQ @KeishaBottoms
— Eric Andre (@ericandre) April 21, 2021
Eric Andre then tweeted that the statement was “sad and full of misinformation.”
Adding, “You guys flashed your badge and detained me with no probable cause except for racism,” he wrote. “I DID NOT VOLUNTEER TO A SEARCH. YOU ARE HARASSING ME.”
I did NOT volunteer to a search and I did not volunteer to talk. You guys flashed your badge and detained me with no probable cause except for racism. This is JIM CROW RACISM @ClaytonCountyPD I DID NOT VOLUNTEER TO A SEARCH. YOU ARE HARASSING ME. THIS IS RACISM! @KeishaBottoms
— Eric Andre (@ericandre) April 22, 2021
Eric Andre is the latest Black celeb to have a public brushing with police. For instance, there was the 2015 incident of former tennis player James Blake being tackled by New York City. In that case, the police were after an ID theft suspect. Mistaking Blake for the suspect, one officer tackled Blake to the ground and handcuffed him outside a New York hotel. After the incident was highly publicized, the officer recieved a punishment of five mandatory vacation days and extended desk duty in 2019.
For Andre, the case continues. And while he may have gotten the mayor’s attention, there’s no knowing if there will be any real consequences for the Clayton County Police Department.
Source: Jimmy Kimmel Live, People Magazine,
Black-on-black violence is out of control in democrat cities..including Atlanta. When the police are forced not to engage with criminals, violence spirals out of control as criminals are emboldened. The George Floyd verdict sets a new precedent that if a black criminal is not in the mood to be arrested or is having a bad drug experience, the police have to let them go. You’ve brought this misery upon yourselves.