ATLANTA – An actor and comedian took to Twitter on Wednesday to say he was racially profiled while traveling through Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Eric Andre said he was “racially profiled by two plainclothes police officers from Atlanta at Delta terminal T3 at the Atlanta airport. They stopped me on the way to the plane across the bridge for a “random” search and asked if they could search me for drugs. I told them no. “
Andre also tagged Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in the tweets.
She replied and said, “I’m sorry to hear about your experience. It is my understanding that this was not an APD, but just one of the many agencies operating at the airport. We are working to confirm this. “
The Atlanta Police Department also released a statement stating:
“Atlanta Police Department became aware of Mr. Andre’s social media posts before the news media contacted us. As soon as we heard Mr Andre’s complaint, we started gathering 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 it has multiple law enforcement agencies operating. It appears that this incident involved members of another agency. In addition, members of the APD Airport Drug Prohibition Unit do not randomly approach travelers and ask them to search them. Searches are conducted based on some type of evidence or indication of criminal activity. “
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Andre later tweeted that he thought it was 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.
In a statement, a representative from the airport said Channel 2 that members of the Clayton County Drug Task Force stopped Andre.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is served by multiple law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, provincial and local levels. Coordination and collaboration are essential, and we work with all agencies to ensure safe and secure travel. After we became aware of Mr Andre’s tweet this afternoon, we determined that the incident involved agents of the Clayton County Drug Task Force. The task force operates separately from the Atlanta Police Airport Drug Interdiction Unit. Officials from ATL and APD will meet with Clayton County law enforcement officials next week to review procedures. “
Channel 2 contacted the Clayton County Police Department. They sent a statement on Wednesday evening:
On April 21, 2021, Clayton County Police met a male traveler, later identified as Eric Andre, as he prepared to fly to California from Atlanta Airport. Mr. Andre chose to speak to investigators at the first meeting. During the meeting, Mr. Andre volunteered to inform the investigators about his travel plans. Mr. Andre also voluntarily agreed to search his baggage, but the detectives chose not to. Investigators found that there was no reason to continue the conversation and therefore ended the meeting. Mr. Andre boarded the plane without being detained and continued his journey. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Atlanta Police Department did not contribute to this consensual meeting. “