The comedians Eric André and Clayton English have sued Clayton county police, alleging racial profiling at Atlanta’s main airport in a program supposedly aimed at finding illegal drugs but in which officers regularly confiscate passengers’ cash.
André, creator and host of The Eric Andre Show, and English, a standup comedian and actor, say that in separate incidents, Clayton county police officers at Hartsfield-Jackson international airport racially profiled and illegally stopped them to question if they had illegal drugs.
A federal lawsuit filed on Tuesday alleges that the police searches, which the Clayton county police describe as consensual, rely on coercion and are administered based on race. More than half – 56% – of passengers searched were Black, and 68% were people of color, the lawsuit said.
Lawyers for the two comedians also argue that the search program rarely uncovers drugs, but does regularly seize cash: more than $1m worth, with the money rarely returned even if the passenger is not charged, according to the suit.
Of the 402 stops conducted, drugs have been found a total of three times, totalling 0.08lb. Six pills were taken from one passenger who did not have a prescription for them, the suit said.
André says that in April 2021 he arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson from Los Angeles. While waiting on the jet bridge, he says police officers stopped him in the narrow space and questioned him regarding drugs.
“There’s all these people having to squeeze past us on this narrow, awkward jet bridge as I look like this suspicious perpetrator,” André told the Post. “And I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. I’m literally coming home from a work trip.”
He said he was later let off the plane, but described the police encounter as “demoralizing, dehumanizing, racist and traumatic”.
In October 2020, English says he faced a similar encounter with police while traveling through Atlanta on a work trip to Los Angeles. Police officers blocked him as he entered the jet bridge, asking if he had illegal drugs and examining his boarding pass and ID.
He said they asked to search his bag, a decision he consented to as he didn’t realize he had the option to refuse.
“I felt completely powerless. I felt violated. I felt cornered,” he said at a news conference to discuss the lawsuit. “I felt like I had to comply if I wanted everything to go smoothly.”
The two are requesting a jury trial and hoping that a judge will declare the search program unconstitutional, reported AP.
“I have the resources to bring national attention and international attention to this incident. It’s not an isolated incident,” said André. “If Black people don’t speak up for each other, who will?”
This article was amended on 12 October 2022 to delete a repeated name in a caption.
