In addition to Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Atlanta Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration have responded to the comedian's claim, insisting they were not involved in the incident.
- Apr 22, 2021
AceShowbiz - Eric Andre has had his recent complaints heard by the Mayor of Atlanta. Claiming that he was "racially profiled" at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, "The Eric Andre Show" star received an apology from Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
The 38-year-old first detailed his unpleasant experience on Twitter on Wednesday, April 21. He tweeted, "@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."
Andre went on to tag Bottoms in another post. He pleaded, "@KeishaBottoms please help me. Two of your officers stopped me on the jet bridge at terminal three in the Atlanta airport for a 'random' drug search. Please someone get me the name of a good Atlanta lawyer. @delta @Atlanta_Police #jimcrow #racialprofiling."
"@KeishaBottoms if anyone is at @delta terminal T3 in Atlanta please get me the officers names. Talking to my lawyer now. Need a good Atlanta lawyer. #racism #racialprofiling #racistwarondrugs #jimcrow," the comedian stressed in the following tweet. "At that moment, I was the only POC on line. @KeishaBottoms I know this isn't the PD you want representing in your airports."
Andre further emphasized, "@KeishaBottoms we filmed most of @BadTripTheMovie in your lovely city. Bummer this is the way @Atlanta_Police treats POC traveling their for work. @delta should know this is happening on their jet bridge." The tweet was then replied by Bottoms who penned, "Sorry to hear about your experience. It's my understanding that this was not APD, but another one of the many agencies working in the airport. We are working to confirm."
Also responding to Andre's claim was the Atlanta Police Department via Twitter. "Once APD learned of @ericandre's complaint, we began investigating & learned APD was NOT involved. Multiple law enforcement agencies operate from @ATLairport & this involved another agency. APD does not randomly search travelers without evidence/indication of criminal activity," so read the statement.
A spokesperson of Drug Enforcement Administration, meanwhile, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the organization also was not involved in the incident. Hours after Andre shared his series of tweets, Clayton County police released a statement that read, "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," the message continued. "Investigators identified that there was no reason to continue a conversation and therefore terminated the encounter."
